COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Affordable Housing

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to encourage the building of affordable housing.

Mark Prisk: Through the Homes and Communities Agency's Affordable Homes Programme we expect to provide up to 170,000 new affordable homes by 2014-15 with investment of nearly £4.5 billion. The total investment including funding from providers is some £19.5 billion. Nearly 55,000 affordable homes have been delivered against our ambition of 170,000 over the four years 2011-15. This represents some 32% of the overall target.
	In September we also announced a package to increase private investment in the sector with the support of debt guarantees of up to £10 billion for the delivery of both new market rented housing and affordable housing. We will also invest another £300 million to supply new affordable homes and bring empty homes back into use.

Architects Registration Board

Neil Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the Architects Registration Board as established by the Architects Act 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Don Foster: The Architects Registration Board was reviewed as part of the Cross Government Arms Length Body Review in 2010. Like all arm’s length bodies, Architects Registration Board is subject to the triennial review process.

Council Housing

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many of the people who live in council housing have a combined household income over £100,000 per annum.

Mark Prisk: We set out an estimate of the number of social tenants earning over £100,000 per annum in our recent “Pay to Stay” consultation, available at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/2160581.pdf
	That estimate was for up to 6,000 households.
	The estimate was based on the incomes of the household reference person and partner, and used data from the Family Resources Survey 2008-09, and the English Housing Survey 2008-09 and 2009-10.

Council Housing

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate his Department has made of the number of former local authority homes that are now available for private rent.

Mark Prisk: This information is not available centrally.

Fire Services

Richard Harrington: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how his Department assesses the effect of reductions in funding on fire and rescue services.

Brandon Lewis: It is for each fire and rescue authority to determine the operational activities of its fire and rescue service through its integrated risk management plan, which is subject to consultation with the local community. Fire and rescue authorities should be making sensible savings without impacting on the quality or breadth of services offered to their communities.

Housing

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to increase the quality of housing stock.

Mark Prisk: Over the current spending review the Government has allocated £1.6 billion in Decent Homes funding to help refurbish council homes.
	We are providing incentives for landlords to improve the energy efficiency of their properties. From next year, the Green Deal will enable all consumers to install energy efficiency measures at no upfront cost. Householders (whether owners or tenants) will repay the cost of the measures through their energy bill savings.
	As we made clear in the housing strategy, published last November, the Government is committed to improving the quality of new homes. The National Planning Policy Framework, published in March, also emphasises the importance of well-designed new homes and neighbourhoods and of working with communities early in the development process to achieve that.
	In addition, the Building Regulations already set national minimum standards to ensure our buildings do not have an adverse impact on the health, safety and welfare of the people who live and work in them. They also address wider sustainability issues, not least in setting minimum energy and water efficiency standards in new homes. The Government committed earlier in the year to further improvements in those energy efficiency standards.
	Where affordable housing is funded by the Homes and Community Agency, new affordable homes are required to be built to Code Level 3 of the Code for Sustainable Homes. The Code for Sustainable Homes is the national standard for the sustainable design and construction of new homes.

Housing: Construction

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Sheffield, Heeley of 22 October 2012, Official Report, column 627W, onhousing: construction, what estimate he has made of the number of dwellings with planning permission where development had yet to start on 30 June (a) 2011, (b) 2010, (c) 2009 and (d) 2005; what the total estimated value was; and if he will make a statement.

Nicholas Boles: holding answer 19 November 2012
	The number of large residential sites (those with more than 10 dwellings) and associated units with detailed planning consent that had not started on site is estimated as follows:
	
		
			 Number 
			 As at June each year Sites Units 
			 2010 3,657 240,882 
			 2011 4,200 238,012 
			 2012 4,155 225,797 
		
	
	This information is based on Glenigan data provided to the Homes and Communities Agency. The data provided do not include information relating to the total estimated value, and coverage is available only from 2010.
	We are undertaking a series of initiatives to help kick-start development on stalled sites, including the £570 million Get Britain Building fund and our reforms to unlock economically unrealistic section 106 agreements.
	These are part of our broader policies to support house building as outlined in the written ministerial statement of 6 September 2012, Official Report, columns 29-34WS, and November 2011's Housing Strategy.

Housing: Sustainable Development

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what recent discussions he has had with his European counterparts on sustainable housing;
	(2)  whether he has had discussions with his European counterparts on measures to increase affordable housing.

Mark Prisk: The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles), and his ministerial team routinely discuss a range of issues with European counterparts.

Internet

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average number of hits is that his Department's website receives per day.

Brandon Lewis: In the period November 2011 to October 2012 the Department for Communities and Local Government website:
	www.gov.uk/dclg
	received an average of 54,489 page views per day. The average number of unique visitors per day was 14,175.
	Page views
	Highest number of page views: 134,960 (Monday 21 November 2011).
	Lowest number of page views: 447 (Tuesday 27 December 2011).
	Unique visitors
	Highest number of unique visitors: 37,250 (Monday 12 March 2012).
	Lowest number of unique visitors: 156 (Tuesday 27 December 2011).
	From 15 November the Department's content was published on the Inside Government section of GOV.UK and the DCLG website archived.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what support his Department offers to young people seeking their first mortgage;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to enable young people to step onto the housing ladder.

Mark Prisk: This Government is committed to supporting buyers get on to, and move up, the housing ladder. High deposit requirements are a barrier for people who want to own a home.
	The FirstBuy equity loan scheme will help up to 27,000 aspiring home owners in England by March 2014 with joint investment from Government and house builders of over £900 million. House builders have found significant interest from first time buyers, reporting over 8,500 reservations by eligible applicants. Official statistics published by the Homes and Communities Agency in November show that there were 6,780 sales in the first 13 months of the scheme.
	In March 2012, we launched the NewBuy Guarantee scheme, which enables first time buyers and others to purchase a new build property with only a 5% deposit. On 7 November the Home Builders Federation estimated that 2,000 reservations have been made in the scheme. Our reinvigorated Right to Buy programme with an enhanced discount of up to £75,000 also provides support to first time buyers.
	In addition, shared ownership (part buy/ part rent) units will make up 20% of the Government's Affordable Homes Programme, which will deliver 170,000 homes by 2015.
	We are also committed to a major increase in the supply of new homes. On 6 September 2012, we announced a range of housing and planning measures, which supports up to 70,000 new homes across a range of tenures.

Private Rented Housing

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will take steps to encourage people who can afford it to rent privately.

Mark Prisk: We are keen to support and champion home ownership and are doing so through the reinvigorated Right to Buy and the FirstBuy and NewBuy schemes for new build housing.
	We are also keen to support those who prefer to rent, which is why we are taking action to expand the choice of private rented housing on offer. In particular, we have recently set out our plans to increase the supply of private rented housing through a £200 million equity fund and up to £10 billion in debt guarantees.

Temporary Accommodation: Greater London

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many families were housed in temporary accommodation in each London borough in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011 and (d) 2012 to date; and whether the location of that accommodation was (i) in that borough, (ii) in another London borough and (C) outside London.

Mark Prisk: A table has been placed in the Library of the House, which shows the number of homeless households with dependant children and/or pregnant woman with no other dependants from each London borough and the City of London placed in temporary accommodation at 30 June in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011 and (d) 2012.
	Across London as a whole, the number of statutory homeless households in temporary accommodation is lower than under the last Administration, with 37,190 households in Q2 2012, compared with 45,740 at the same point in 2009, 53,870 in 2008, 59,130 in 2007, 62,020 in 2006 and 62,640 in 2005.
	The Department does not collect information, on the location of such families. Although it collects figures for the total numbers of households placed in temporary accommodation within another borough, separate figures are not collected for the number of families in such circumstances.
	Statistical releases on Statutory Homelessness are available both in the Library of the House and via the DCLG website:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-communities-and-local-government/series/homelessness-statistics#publications
	From 9 November, local authorities have had new powers under the Localism Act to end the main homelessness duty by arranging an offer of suitable accommodation in the private rented sector, without requiring the applicant's agreement. This will mean shorter waiting times for homeless households and less time spent in expensive temporary accommodation.

JUSTICE

Alternatives to Prison

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many women were sentenced to a community order or a suspended sentence with a structured supervision for women requirement in the last year; and how many such women have been found to be in breach of that requirement.

Jeremy Wright: The tables show the number of female offenders starting community orders and suspended sentence orders with a specific 'supervision' requirement attached between July 2011 and June 2012 (the latest date for which this data has been published).
	From the data held centrally, it is not possible to identify separately all those offenders who breached supervision, but the proportions of court order terminations shown in the table for 'failure to comply with requirements' and 'conviction of an offence' will include those offenders who breached their orders and eventually had them terminated for these reasons.
	
		
			 Female offenders starting probation supervision between July 2011 and June 2012 with a specific supervision requirement attached to the order, England and Wales 
			  Number 
			 Community order 9,921 
			 Suspended sentence order 4,529 
		
	
	
		
			 C ourt orders given to females with a specific supervision requirement attached which terminated for negative reasons between July 2011 and June 2012, England and Wales 
			 Percentage/Number 
			 Reason for termination Community o rder Suspended s en tence o rder 
			 Failure to comply with requirements (percentage) 12 10 
			 Conviction of an offence (percentage) 10 13 
			    
			 Total number of terminations 10,773 4,428 
		
	
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Bill of Rights Commission

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent assessment he has made of the work of the Commission on a Bill of Rights.

Damian Green: In line with its terms of reference, the Commission on a Bill of Rights is expected to report by the end of 2012. Recent work includes publication of its second consultation in 11 July 2012; this closed on 30 September 2012 and the responses will feed in to the final report.

Burglary

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of (a) men and (b) women were found guilty of burglary in the last year for which figures are available; and what proportion of such people were sent to prison.

Jeremy Wright: The conviction ratio for burglary offences by gender in England and Wales in 2011 can be viewed in Table 1.
	The conviction ratio is calculated based on findings of guilty at all courts as a proportion of all proceedings at magistrates courts in a given year for selected offences.
	Sentencing is entirely a matter for the courts, and they will take account of all the circumstances of the offence and the offender in determining the appropriate sentence in each case.
	The custody rate for burglary offences by gender in England and Wales in 2011 can be viewed in Table 2.
	The custody rate is calculated based on persons receiving a custodial sentence as a proportion of all persons sentenced at all courts in a given year for selected offences.
	
		
			 Table 1: Conviction ratio and custody rate for burglary offences by gender, England and Wales, 2011 (1, 2) 
			 Percentage 
			 Outcome Males Females 
			 Conviction ratio(3) 76.9 68.4 
			 (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) The conviction ratio is calculated based on findings of guilty at all courts as a proportion of all proceedings at magistrates courts in a given year for selected offences. Source: Ministry of Justice, Justice Statistics Analytical Services. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Proportion of offenders sentenced who receive custody and further sentence outcomes for burglary offences by gender, England and Wales, 2011 (1, 2) 
			 Percentage 
			 Outcome Males Females 
			 Custody(3) 48.9 35.8 
			    
			 Community sentence 34.5 43.4 
			 Suspended sentence 10.9 14.8 
			 Fine 1.6 0.8 
			 Other(4) 4.2 5.3 
			 (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) The custody rate is calculated based on persons receiving a custodial sentence as a proportion of all persons sentenced at all courts in a given year for selected offences. (4) 'Other' includes absolute and conditional discharge, one day in police cells; disqualification order; restraining order; confiscation order; travel restriction order; disqualification from driving; recommendation for deportation; and other miscellaneous disposals. Source: Ministry of Justice, Justice Statistics Analytical Services.

Drugs: Sentencing

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many individuals convicted of the unlawful importation of (a) Class A, (b) Class B and (c) Class C drugs received (i) an absolute discharge, (ii) a conditional discharge, (iii) a fine, (iv) a community rehabilitation order, (v) a supervision order, (vi) an attendance centre order, (vii) a curfew order, (viii) a reparation order, (ix) a community order, (x) a youth rehabilitation order, (xi) a suspended sentence and (xii) immediate custody in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many individuals convicted of the unlawful exportation of (a) Class A, (b) Class B and (c) Class C drugs received (i) an absolute discharge, (ii) a conditional discharge, (iii) a fine, (iv) a community rehabilitation order, (v) a supervision order, (vi) an attendance centre order, (vii) a curfew order, (viii) a reparation order, (ix) a community order, (x) a youth rehabilitation order, (xi) a suspended sentence and (xii) immediate custody in each of the last five years;
	(3)  how many individuals have been convicted for dealing drugs covered by a temporary class drug order since the inception of that order;
	(4)  how many individuals convicted of the possession of controlled (a) Class A, (b) Class B and (c) Class C drugs with intent to supply received (i) an absolute discharge, (ii) a conditional discharge, (iii) a fine, (iv) a community rehabilitation order, (v) a supervision order, (vi) an attendance centre order, (vii) a curfew order, (viii) a reparation order, (ix) a community order, (x) a youth rehabilitation order, (xi) a suspended sentence and (xii) immediate custody in each of the last five years;
	(5)  how many individuals convicted of the possession of controlled (a) Class A, (b) Class B and (c) Class C drugs received (i) an absolute discharge, (ii) a conditional discharge, (iii) a fine, (iv) a community rehabilitation order, (v) a supervision order, (vi) an attendance centre order, (vii) a curfew order, (viii) a reparation order, (ix) a community order, (x) a youth rehabilitation order, (xi) a suspended sentence and (xii) immediate custody in each of the last five years;
	(6)  how many individuals were convicted of the importation of (a) Class A, (b) Class B and (c) Class C drugs in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: Data for the requested convictions and sentencing disposals for unlawful importation of, unlawful exportation of, possession of and possession of with intent to supply Class A, B and C drugs can be viewed in the tables, which has been broken down into annual summaries of offence and disposal types, for England and Wales, for 2007 to 2011.
	The Youth Rehabilitation Order came into force on 30 November 2009. The first temporary class drug order took effect on 5 April 2012. As such no proceedings would have taken place until 2012. Court proceedings data for 2012 are planned for publication in spring 2013.
	
		
			 Defendants found guilty and sentenced at all courts for selected drug offences, with selected sentencing disposals, in England and Wales, 2007 (1, 2, 3) 
			    Of which: 
			 Offence description Total found guilty Total sentenced Absolute discharge Conditional discharge Fine Community rehabilitation order Supervision order 
			 Unlawful importation - Class A 483 528 __ 3 7 __ __ 
			 Unlawful importation - Class B 38 23 __ 3 2 1 __ 
			 Unlawful importation - Class C 216 247 __ 3 6 __ __ 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class A 26 24 __ 1 2 __ 1 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class B 1 1 __ __ __ __ __ 
		
	
	
		
			 Unlawful exportation - Class C 5 6 __ 1 1 __ __ 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class A 13,383 13,280 41 2,767 4,939 32 58 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class B 3,234 3,208 27 897 1,327 7 23 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class C 14,994 14,971 295 3,600 7,141 43 207 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class A 3,500 3,473 5 21 39 13 25 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class B 308 302 __ 8 6 __ __ 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class C 1,645 1,671 1 25 56 12 14 
		
	
	
		
			  Of which: 
			 Offence description Attendance centre order Curfew order Reparation order Community order Suspended sentence Immediate custody 
			 Unlawful importation - Class A __ __ __ 7 7 503 
			 Unlawful importation - Class B __ __ __ 3 3 11 
			 Unlawful importation - Class C __ __ __ 5 15 218 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class A __ __ 1 1 __ 16 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class B __ __ __ __ __ 1 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class C __ __ __ __ 3 1 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class A 27 74 12 3,516 413 902 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class B 5 11 10 540 65 127 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class C 148 105 130 1,298 106 196 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class A __ 16 __ 304 473 2,469 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class B __ __ __ 44 101 139 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class C 1 12 2 372 516 520 
			 “—“ = Nil (1) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) The number of offenders sentenced can differ from those found guilty as it may be the case that a defendant found guilty in a particular year, and committed for sentence at the Crown court, may be sentenced in the following year. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	
		
			 Defendants found guilty and sentenced at all courts for selected drug offences, with selected sentencing disposals, in England and Wales, 2008 (1, 2, 3) 
			    Of which: 
			 Offence description Total found guilty Total sentenced Absolute discharge Conditional discharge Fine Community rehabilitation order Supervision order 
			 Unlawful importation - Class A 432 532 — 3 1 — — 
			 Unlawful importation - Class B 24 23 — — 2 — — 
			 Unlawful importation - Class C 168 197 — 3 5 — — 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class A 18 19 — 1 1 — — 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class B(4) — — — — — — — 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class C 6 6 — — — — — 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class A 14,599 14,516 33 2,470 5,739 26 53 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class B 3,310 3,320 13 834 1,375 3 20 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class C 20,157 20,157 324 4,361 9,739 67 229 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class A 4,010 3,972 5 20 18 13 38 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class B 389 407 1 8 3 — 1 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class C 1,998 1,984 — 25 57 11 31 
		
	
	
		
			  Of which: 
			 Offence description Attendance centre order Curfew order Reparation order Community order Suspended sentence Immediate custody 
			 Unlawful importation - Class A — — — 2 — 525 
			 Unlawful importation - Class B — — — 1 1 19 
			 Unlawful importation - Class C — 1 — 6 13 169 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class A — — — 2 — 14 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class B(4) — — — — — — 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class C — — — — — 6 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class A 16 59 8 3,794 401 985 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class B 8 14 9 589 59 114 
		
	
	
		
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class C 190 165 182 1,910 148 316 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class A — 29 — 273 488 2,913 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class B — 1 — 74 117 190 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class C 2 21 2 509 648 552 
			 “—“ = Nil (1) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) The number of offenders sentenced can differ from those found guilty as it may be the case that a defendant found guilty in a particular year, and committed for sentence at the Crown court, may be sentenced in the following year. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	
		
			 Defendants found guilty and sentenced at all courts for selected drug offences, with selected sentencing disposals, in England and Wales , 2009 (1, 2, 3) 
			    Of which: 
			 Offence description Total found guilty Total sentenced Absolute discharge Conditional discharge Fine Community rehabilitation order Supervision order 
			 Unlawful importation - Class A 497 539 — — 3 1 — 
			 Unlawful importation - Class B 97 92 — 2 3 — — 
			 Unlawful importation - Class C 86 93 — — — — — 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class A 18 28 — — 1 — — 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class B 4 5 — — 1 — — 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class C 4 4 — — — — — 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class A 13,730 13,659 28 1,848 5,886 15 44 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class B(5) 21,766 21,589 241 3,833 11,174 44 268 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class C 5,794 5,796 76 1,136 2,863 22 53 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class A 3,675 3,696 1 10 14 6 19 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class B 1,184 1,182 2 14 71 6 12 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class C 1,437 1,456 — 12 45 3 7 
		
	
	
		
			  Of which: 
			 Offence description Attendance centre order Curfew order Reparation order Community order Suspended sentence Immediate custody 
			 Unlawful importation - Class A — — — 2 4 528 
			 Unlawful importation - Class B — — — 6 7 74 
			 Unlawful importation - Class C — — — 4 7 82 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class A — — — 1 1 25 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class B — — — — — 4 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class C — — — — — 4 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class A 11 49 8 3,837 364 775 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class B(5) 169 164 135 2,547 171 371 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class C 32 48 30 745 84 127 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class A — 29 — 250 456 2,835 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class B 2 13 — 290 306 368 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class C — 8 — 369 503 451 
			 “—“ = Nil (1) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) The number of offenders sentenced can differ from those found guilty as it may be the case that a defendant found guilty in a particular year, and committed for sentence at the Crown court, may be sentenced in the following year. (4) The Youth Rehabilitation Order came into force on 30 November 2009. Figures prior to 2010 are recorded as Community Orders. (5) Cannabis was re-classified as a Class B drug on 26 January 2009 Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	
		
			 Defendants found guilty and sentenced at all courts for selected drug offences, with selected sentencing disposals, in England and Wales , 2010 (1, 2, 3) 
			    Of which: 
			 Offence description Total found guilty Total sentenced Absolute discharge Conditional discharge Fine Community rehabilitation order Supervision order 
			 Unlawful importation - Class A 394 406 — — 1 — — 
		
	
	
		
			 Unlawful importation - Class B 124 121 — 2 1 — — 
			 Unlawful importation - Class C 23 26 — — — — — 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class A 14 14 — — — — — 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class B 6 7 — — — — — 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class C — — — — — — — 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class A 12,254 12,175 30 1,781 5,423 9 4 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class B 29,450 29,251 369 5,681 15,724 10 25 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class C 1,687 1,708 21 471 797 1 2 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class A 3,753 3,687 1 9 12 5 6 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class B 3,104 3,069 — 41 96 5 9 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class C 446 457 — 14 19 1 — 
		
	
	
		
			 Offence description Attendance centre order Curfew order Reparation order Community order 
			 Unlawful importation - Class A — — — 1 
			 Unlawful importation - Class B — — — 4 
			 Unlawful importation - Class C — — — 1 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class A — — — — 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class B — — — — 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class C — — — — 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class A 7 18 1 3,026 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class B 31 42 135 3,074 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class C — 3 1 212 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class A — 22 — 274 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class B — 13 — 820 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class C — — — 113 
		
	
	
		
			 Offence description Youth Rehabilitation Order (4) Suspended sentence Immediate custody 
			 Unlawful importation - Class A — 7 397 
			 Unlawful importation - Class B — 7 107 
			 Unlawful importation - Class C — 5 20 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class A — — 14 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class B — 1 6 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class C — — — 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class A 82 338 779 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class B 584 302 500 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class C 7 33 60 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class A 47 419 2,779 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class B 52 992 907 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class C 5 173 121 
			 “—“ = Nil (1) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) The number of offenders sentenced can differ from those found guilty as it may be the case that a defendant found guilty in a particular year, and committed for sentence at the Crown court, may be sentenced in the following year. (4) The Youth Rehabilitation Order came into force on 30 November 2009. Figures prior to 2010 are recorded as Community Orders. 
		
	
	
		
			 Defendants found guilty and sentenced at all courts for selected drug offences, with selected sentencing disposals, in England and Wales , 2011 (1, 2, 3) 
			    Of which: 
			 Offence description Total found guilty Total sentenced Absolute discharge Conditional discharge Fine Community rehabilitation order Supervision order 
			 Unlawful importation - Class A 431 436 — 1 1 — — 
			 Unlawful importation - Class B 159 157 — 1 2 — — 
			 Unlawful importation - Class C 29 28 — — 2 — — 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class A 15 15 — — — — — 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class B 12 12 — — 2 — — 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class C — — — — — — — 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class A 10,514 10,419 27 1,491 4,708 1 — 
		
	
	
		
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class B 30,133 30,039 369 5,809 16,369 2 — 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class C 1,575 1,588 16 433 779 — — 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class A 3,194 3,173 — 10 1 1 — 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class B 3,330 3,261 — 35 92 — 1 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class C 310 306 — 6 10 — — 
		
	
	
		
			 Offence description Attendance centre order Curfew order Reparation order Community order 
			 Unlawful importation - Class A — — — 1 
			 Unlawful importation - Class B — — — 1 
			 Unlawful importation - Class C — — — 2 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class A — — — — 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class B — — — — 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class C — — — — 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class A 2 9 — 2,637 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class B 27 21 63 3,142 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class C — 2 — 164 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class A — 1 — 205 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class B 2 7 — 872 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class C — 1 — 109 
		
	
	
		
			 Offence description Youth Rehabilitation Order (4) Suspended sentence Immediate custody 
			 Unlawful importation - Class A — 7 426 
			 Unlawful importation - Class B — 13 137 
			 Unlawful importation - Class C — 7 17 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class A — — 15 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class B — 1 9 
			 Unlawful exportation - Class C — — — 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class A 95 286 602 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class B 723 334 566 
			 Possession of a controlled drug - Class C 18 28 77 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class A 77 311 2,489 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class B 68 1,089 993 
			 Possession of drugs with intent to supply - Class C 4 99 74 
			 “—“ = Nil (1) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) The number of offenders sentenced can differ from those found guilty as it may be the case that a defendant found guilty in a particular year, and committed for sentence at the Crown court, may be sentenced in the following year. (4) The Youth Rehabilitation Order came into force on 30 November 2009. Figures prior to 2010 are recorded as Community Orders.

Prison Accommodation

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people in each prison in England and Wales are accommodated in cells designed for (a) one person but occupied by two and (b) two people but occupied by three.

Jeremy Wright: The following table shows the average number of offenders held in a cell designed for one prisoner but occupied by two in each establishment in 2011-12, the most recent year for which figures have been published. This is known as 'doubling'. Alongside these the table shows for the same period the average number of prisoners held in a cell designed by two but occupied by more than two. This is known as 'trebling'.
	The Government is committed to providing safe, decent and secure places for those in custody and continues to meet this commitment despite crowding.
	Crowding occurs when cells are modified to hold more prisoners than they were originally designed for in order to manage the population. It is not a reflection of the quality of the accommodation. Accommodation that does not conform to published minimum standards will not be certified and cannot be used to accommodate prisoners.
	There are two measures of estate capacity: certified normal accommodation is uncrowded capacity; and operational capacity is the maximum capacity based on published accommodation standards, as well as the provision and operation of appropriate regime facilities and the needs for order and control.
	No prisons are operating above their operational capacity across the prison estate.
	Figures for the percentage of prisoners in overcrowded and doubled accommodation for 2012-13 will be published in the Prison Performance Digest on the Justice website in July 2013.
	
		
			 Average number of prisoners held, April 2011 to March 2012 
			 Establishment name Two to a cell designed for one Three to  a  cell designed for two 
			 Albany 0 0 
			 Altcourse 704 110 
			 Ashfield 0 0 
			 Askham Grange 0 0 
			 Aylesbury 14 0 
			 Bedford 276 19 
			 Belmarsh 0 351 
			 Birmingham 659 0 
			 Blantyre House 0 0 
			 Blundeston 28 74 
			 Brinsford 0 0 
			 Bristol 162 0 
			 Brixton 250 0 
			 Bronzefield 0 0 
			 Buckley Hall 55 0 
			 Bullingdon 416 0 
			 Bullwood Hall 26 0 
			 Bure 38 0 
			 Camp Hill 292 0 
			 Canterbury 203 0 
			 Cardiff 508 0 
			 Channings Wood 63 0 
			 Chelmsford 310 0 
			 Coldingley 2 0 
			 Cookham Wood 0 0 
			 Dartmoor 32 0 
			 Deerbolt 0 0 
			 Doncaster 707 0 
			 Dorchester 161 0 
			 Dovegate 178 0 
			 Dover 0 0 
			 Downview 0 0 
			 Drake Hall 0 0 
			 Durham 637 0 
			 East Sutton Park 0 0 
			 Eastwood Park 68 0 
			 Elmley 356 274 
			 Erlestoke 0 0 
			 Everthorpe 143 0 
			 Exeter 411 0 
			 Featherstone 27 0 
			 Feltham 0 0 
			 Ford 0 0 
			 Forest Bank 579 0 
			 Foston Hall 6 0 
			 Frankland 0 0 
			 Full Sutton 0 0 
			 Garth 34 0 
			 Gartree 0 0 
			 Glen Parva 429 0 
			 Gloucester 170 0 
			 Grendon and Spring Hill 0 0 
			 Guys Marsh 92 0 
			 Haslar 0 0 
			 Haverigg 28 0 
			 Hewell 313 0 
			 High Down 186 0 
			 Highpoint 45 1 
			 Hindley 0 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Hollesley Bay 0 0 
			 Holloway 0 0 
			 Holme House 308 0 
			 Hull 468 0 
			 Huntercombe 47 0 
			 Isis 206 0 
			 Kennet 332 0 
			 Kingston 0 0 
			 Kirkham 0 0 
			 Kirklevington Grange 0 0 
			 Lancaster Farms 87 0 
			 Latchmere House 0 0 
			 Leeds 499 0 
			 Leicester 318 0 
			 Lewes 79 0 
			 Leyhill 0 0 
			 Lincoln 463 0 
			 Lindholme 83 0 
			 Littlehey 116 0 
			 Liverpool 351 0 
			 Long Lartin 0 0 
			 Low Newton 45 0 
			 Lowdham Grange 64 0 
			 Maidstone 60 0 
			 Manchester 629 0 
			 Moorland and Hatfield 52 0 
			 Morton Hall 0 0 
			 Mount 50 0 
			 New Hall 45 0 
			 North Sea Camp 74 0 
			 Northallerton 140 0 
			 Northumberland 0 0 
			 Norwich 260 16 
			 Nottingham 608 0 
			 Onley 0 0 
			 Parc 283 0 
			 Parkhurst 92 0 
			 Pentonville 654 0 
			 Peterborough 226 0 
			 Portland 0 0 
			 Preston 685 0 
			 Ranby 368 0 
			 Reading 178 0 
			 Risley 36 0 
			 Rochester 0 0 
			 Rye Hill 0 0 
			 Send 0 0 
			 Shepton Mallet 47 0 
			 Shrewsbury 318 0 
			 Stafford 0 0 
			 Standford Hill 0 0 
			 Stocken 118 0 
			 Stoke Heath 92 0 
			 Styal 18 0 
			 Sudbury 0 0 
			 Swaleside 0 0 
			 Swansea 370 23 
			 Swinfen Hall 68 0 
			 Thameside 0 0 
			 Thorn Cross 0 0 
			 Usk and Prescoed 248 2 
			 Verne 68 0 
			 Wakefield 0 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Wandsworth 957 0 
			 Warren Hill 0 0 
			 Wayland 108 0 
			 Wealstun 37 0 
			 Wellingborough 0 0 
			 Werrington 0 0 
			 Wetherby 0 0 
			 Whatton 60 0 
			 Whitemoor 0 0 
			 Winchester 402 0 
			 Wolds 108 0 
			 Woodhill 366 0 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 124 0 
			 Wymott 134 0

Probation

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  on how many occasions a probation trust submitted moderation proposals in respect of the Probation Trust Rating System during 2011-12;
	(2)  how many probation trusts received an annual appraisal rating of (a) Band 1 - Serious Concern about Performance, (b) Band 2 - Requiring Development, (c) Band 3 - Showing Good Performance and (d) Band 4 - Exceptional Performance in 2011-12;
	(3)  what indicators are contained in the Probation Trust Rating System;
	(4)  what the average performance outcomes are for performance trusts in England and Wales for each of the 12 indicators in the Probation Trust Rating System in 2011-12.

Jeremy Wright: Moderation proposals were submitted by two probation trusts in 2011-12, namely South Yorkshire Probation Trust and Northumbria Probation Trust.
	The annual Probation Trust Ratings for 2011-12 were published on the Justice website on 24 July 2012:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/statistics/prison-probation/prison-probation-performance-stats/probation-annual-performance-ratings-2011-12.pdf
	They are reproduced in the following table:
	
		
			 Table 1: Annual probation trust performance ratings 2011-12 
			 Probation Trust Performance Rating Band 
			 Avon and Somerset Probation Trust 3 
			 Bedfordshire Probation Trust 3 
			 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Probation Trust 3 
			 Cheshire Probation Trust 3 
			 Cumbria Probation Trust 3 
			 Derbyshire Probation Trust 3 
			 Devon and Cornwall Probation Trust 3 
			 Dorset Probation Trust 3 
			 Durham Tees Valley Probation Trust 4 
			 Essex Probation 3 
			 Gloucestershire Probation Trust 3 
			 Greater Manchester Probation Trust 3 
			 Hampshire Probation Trust 3 
			 Hertfordshire Probation Trust 3 
			 Humberside Probation Trust 4 
			 Kent Probation 3 
		
	
	
		
			 Lancashire Probation Trust 3 
			 Leicestershire and Rutland Probation Trust 3 
			 Lincolnshire Probation Trust 3 
			 London Probation Trust 3 
			 Merseyside Probation Trust 3 
			 Norfolk and Suffolk Probation Trust 3 
			 Northamptonshire Probation Trust 3 
			 Northumbria Probation Trust(1) 4 
			 Nottinghamshire Probation Trust 3 
			 South Yorkshire Probation Trust 3 
			 Staffordshire and West Midlands Probation Trust 3 
			 Surrey and Sussex Probation Trust 3 
			 (1) Level 4 awarded following moderation. 
		
	
	The 12 measures which are included in the Probation Trust Rating System are set out in the following table alongside the average performance outcome for each measure where applicable.
	
		
			 Table 2: Indicators included in the Probation Trust Rating System and National Average Performance Outcome 2011-12 
			 Indicators included in the Probation Trust Rating System (PTRS) 2011-12 National Average Performance Outcome (percentage) 
			 The percentage of offenders in accommodation at termination of order or licence 86 
			 The percentage of offenders in employment at termination of order or licence 49 
			 Offender Assessment System (OASys) Quality Assurance 90 
			 Offender Management Feedback Survey 76 
			 Offender Management Inspection: Likelihood of Reoffending 74 
			 Offender Management Inspection: Risk of Harm 75 
			 Offender Management Inspection: Assessment and Sentence Planning 77 
			 Offender Management Inspection: Compliance and Enforcement 79 
			 Offender Management Inspection: Interventions 78 
			 Orders and Licences Successfully Completed 76 
			 Rate of Reoffending (January to December 2011) 9.8 
			 Victim Feedback Survey 98 
		
	
	Performance outcomes by trust for each of the indicators contributing to the ratings are available on the Justice website, along with background guidance on the rating system, data sources and indicator definitions:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/prisons-and-probation/prison-probation-performance-info

Sentencing: Females

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the contribution by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice of 16 October 2012, Official Report, columns 50-1WH, which of the statistics used by the hon. Member for Shipley in his Westminster Hall debate on sentencing of female offenders on 16 October 2012 he (a) accepts as accurate and (b) believes are inaccurate.

Helen Grant: The Ministry of Justice's Analytical Services Directorate provides statistics, research and analysis to underpin evidence based policy and delivery across the Department.
	The Ministry of Justice is required to ensure that all statistics produced by the Department are produced according to the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Its statistical publications are independently assessed by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure they meet the standards expected for official statistics. This helps maintain public confidence in the robustness, quality, integrity and impartiality of statistical publications.
	All research undertaken by the Department adheres to the Government Social Research code. This ensures it is generated, handled and released in a way which maintains public trust in its robustness, integrity and impartiality. Maintenance of high standards is ensured through rigorous quality assurance processes, including internal and external peer review. Research outputs are published on the Ministry of Justice website.
	The statistics and research published by the Ministry of Justice are accurate to the best of our knowledge.

TREASURY

Banks: Loans

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he plans to take to ensure that banks and building societies pass on cheap finance from his Funding for Lending scheme to (a) mortgage prisoners, (b) first-time buyers with limited deposits and (c) other consumers who most need assistance.

Greg Clark: The Funding for Lending scheme is designed to boost the incentives for banks to increase lending in aggregate. The resulting support is not targeted at particular sectors of the economy.

Child Benefit

Nick Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how he plans to raise public awareness of the changes to child benefit entitlement from 7 January 2013, including the claw-back of child benefit paid via tax returns.

David Gauke: HMRC are writing to around 1 million taxpayers who may be affected by the high income child benefit change. In addition, HMRC will be using wider communication channels and media advertising so that everyone affected by the change knows about it.

Child Benefit

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were in receipt of child benefit in (a) St Helens South and Whiston constituency, (b) the North West, (c) England and (d) the UK in each of the last five years; and how many people received such benefits for each number of children.

David Gauke: This information is published in the yearly HMRC publication “Child Benefit Statistics Geographical Analysis”. The publication for the years 2003-11 can be found here:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/child_benefit/geographical.htm
	Data for 2012 is not currently available.
	For convenience the data for the previous two years has been re-produced as follows.
	
		
			 Number of families in receipt of child benefit in 2011 by number of children 
			  St Helens South and Whiston The North West England UK 
			 Total 13,315 895,670 6,606,285 7,884,760 
			 1 child 6,720 434,305 3,097,540 3,720,160 
			 2 children 4,765 322,675 2,473,090 2,940,120 
			 3 children 1,400 100,575 758,735 902,250 
			 4 children 340 27,500 202,020 236,890 
			 5+ children 90 10,615 74,900 85,340 
		
	
	
		
			 Number of families in receipt of child benefit in 2010, by number of children 
			  St Helens South and Whiston The North West England UK 
			 Total 13,390 894,940 6,562,705 7,841,675 
			 1 child 6,655 431,275 3,051,980 3,671,115 
			 2 children 4,860 324,695 2,473,415 2,942,985 
			 3 children 1,425 101,075 761,550 906,310 
			 4+ children 445 37,895 275,765 321,265 
		
	
	Numbers were only provided for four or more children before 2010.

Customs: EU Action

Chris Bryant: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many occasions HM Revenue and Customs worked with the customs services of another EU member state as provided for in the Naples II Convention on mutual assistance and co-operation between customs administrations in (a) 2012 to date, (b) 2011, (c) 2010 and (d) 2009.

David Gauke: The totals for Naples II Convention customs co-operation requests specific to HMRC were:
	
		
			  Total 
			 2009 1,518 
			 2010 1,209 
			 2011 1,329 
			 2012 (11 months) 1,144

Debts: Argentina

Steven Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the recent decision of the higher court of New York, what discussions he had with his G20 counterparts on Argentina's international debt obligations; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Clark: Treasury Ministers have discussions on a wide variety of topics with G20 counterparts as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As has been the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such discussions.

Economic and Monetary Union

William Cash: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what steps he plans to take to follow through in the European Court of Justice the legal reserve in relation to the fiscal compact;
	(2)  what steps he plans to take in respect of the unlawfulness of the fiscal compact.

Greg Clark: holding answer 8 November 2012
	The position remains as set out in the letter from the Government's Permanent Representative to the EU to the Secretary General of the Council of the European Union, dated 22 February.

Economic and Monetary Union

William Cash: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he intends to issue a legal reserve in relation to the unlawfulness of EU Regulation 13683/12.

Greg Clark: holding answer 8 November 2012
	The Government's position is as set out on the Floor of the House during the debate on banking union on 6 November.

Employment Agencies

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on the use of offshore employment companies in the supply of public sector workers in his Department and its associated public bodies.

Sajid Javid: Her Majesty's Treasury is implementing the recommendations of the Government's review into the tax arrangements of senior public sector appointees.
	When awarding contracts to employment companies, the Treasury complies with the European Public Procurement rules, implemented in the UK by the Public Contracts Regulations, 2006, which open up the public sector markets to competition within Europe.

EU Budget

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with his European counterparts on the level of the EU Budget in the next seven years; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Clark: The Chancellor meets regularly with his European counterparts on a variety of issues, including the EU budget.
	HM Treasury will continue to update Parliament via ministerial statements, on the outcome of Council meetings.

Excise Duties: Beer

George Freeman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much of the revenue raised from beer duty was from (a) rural and (b) urban areas in each of the last five years.

Sajid Javid: The information is not available. Data on revenue from beer duty is not broken down to the level required to identify the amount of beer duty raised from (a) rural and (b) urban areas. This is due to the duty being payable once the beer is cleared for consumption onto the UK market, rather than at the point of sale.

Income Tax: Bournemouth

Conor Burns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in Bournemouth West constituency have been taken out of income tax due to recent increases in the personal allowance.

David Gauke: By April 2013, the cumulative effect of the Government's increases in the under 65s personal allowance since 2010-11 will lift 2 million people out of the income tax system.
	These estimates are based on the 2009-10 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected to 2013-14 using economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility's March 2012 economic and fiscal outlook.
	Reliable estimates are not available at parliamentary constituency level due to greater uncertainties in making projections for small geographical areas.

Infrastructure

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on the use of covered bonds to finance infrastructure development; and if he will make a statement.

Danny Alexander: The Government are committed to supporting the development of a strong covered bond market in the UK. The Government conducted a review of the UK's covered bond framework in April 2011 and made a number of changes to the UK regime to make it more transparent and comparable with other European frameworks. These changes come into force on 1 January 2013 and will help banks and building societies make best use of covered bond funding to support lending to the real economy, including financing infrastructure development.

Macquarie Group

Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many times staff of his Department have met representatives of the Macquarie Group in the latest period for which figures are available.

Greg Clark: Treasury Ministers and officials meet with, and receive representations from, a wide range of organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors as part of the usual policymaking process. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Treasury's practice to provide details of all such representations.

Pay

Dominic Raab: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many employees in his Department are paid in excess of (a) £80,000 and (b) £100,000.

Sajid Javid: 55 current Treasury employees are paid an annual salary in excess of £80,000. Of those, 26 are paid over £100,000 Information on HM Treasury salaries is published in the HM Treasury organogram which can be found at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/about_hmtgroup_organogram.htm

Public Finance

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the International Monetary Fund's recent report commenting on the UK's structural deficit.

Greg Clark: The Government notes that the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in their recent World Economic Outlook publication, have revised their estimates of the UK's structural deficit upwards for the last decade compared to their previous publication back in April 2012. The IMF now believe that the pre-crisis structural deficit left by the previous Government in 2007 was larger at 5.2% of GDP, the largest in the G7.

Revenue and Customs: Washington (Tyne and Wear)

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what representations his Department received on the closure of Weardale House in the last 12 months;
	(2)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the feasibility study considered by Ministers in respect of the decision to close Weardale House;
	(3)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the Equality Impact Assessment conducted to inform the decision to close Weardale House;
	(4)  what assessment he has made of the ability of nearby offices to accommodate house staff working in Weardale House after it has closed;
	(5)  what estimate he has made of the economic effect on the surrounding area of the closure of Weardale House.

David Gauke: In the past 12 months the following MPs have all written to lend their support to a PCS Union campaign against the closure of HMRC offices in Sunderland and Washington, some more than once: Graham Morris (Easington), Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South), Stephen Hepburn (Jarrow), Ian Mearns (Gateshead), David Miliband (South Shields), Roberta Blackman-Woods (City of Durham), Phil Wilson (Sedgefield), Dave Anderson (Blaydon) and Sharon Hodgson (Washington and Sunderland West).
	There are no plans to publish or release the findings of HMRC's feasibility work into the closure of Weardale House in the form of either a study or a report. HMRC will be publishing some information from its feasibility findings on the Department's intranet site.
	There are no plans to place a copy of the equality impact assessment conducted to inform the decision to close Weardale House in the Library. HMRC does plan to publish the equality impact assessment on its internet site in the near future.
	Before taking the decision to close Weardale House in Washington HMRC carried out a full assessment which took account of current and future business plans for its north east estate. This included an analysis of how HMRC will use its office accommodation efficiently to deliver its full operational commitments. HMRC constantly reviews its office requirement as its business activities alter so that it can continue to accommodate the right number of people in the right locations.
	In HMRC's assessment any economic effect on the surrounding area arising from the closure of Weardale House is likely to be minimal and temporary, lasting until such time as the building receives a new tenant.

Sick Leave

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 7 November 2012, Official Report, column 656W, on sick leave, what assessment he has made for the disparity between Grade B absences and SCS; and what assessment has been made of the use of mindfulness-based interventions in reducing the number of absences.

Sajid Javid: HM Treasury is firmly committed to the wellbeing of its staff. The Department regularly monitors sick absences across the organisation and the reasons for them particularly if a clear pattern emerges. Interventions will be considered on a case by case basis and this includes an assessment of all the core data.
	Although we do not currently use any mindfulness-based interventions in dealing with sick absence cases, there is guidance on wellbeing available for staff, for example on managing stress in the workplace, and support available through an Occupational Health service and an Employee Assistance Programme.

Universal Credit

Michael McCann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how the qualifying conditions for each passported benefit for which he is responsible will change under universal credit.

David Gauke: The administration of passported benefits is the responsibility of a number of Government Departments and the devolved Administrations. We are currently working across Government to ensure that we introduce universal credit in a way that works smoothly with all passported benefits while ensuring that these benefits continue to be available to the families that need them most.
	We will announce our eligibility criteria in due course.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Adult Education: Hampshire

John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many students in (a) Southampton and (b) Hampshire aged (i) between 18 and 24 and (ii) over 25 years olds (A) began and (B) completed Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications in (1) the latest period for which figures are available and (2) each of the last five years.

Matthew Hancock: I am placing in the Libraries of the House data to show government-funded further education and skills participation and achievements by age and level in Hampshire and Southampton local education authorities. Final data are shown for the 2006/07 to 2010/11 academic years and provisional data are shown for the 2011/12 academic year. Figures are not produced for the number of learners who began these qualifications each year broken down in this way.
	Provisional data for the 2011/12 academic year provide an early view of performance and will change as further data returns are received from further education colleges and providers. They should not be directly compared with final year data from previous years. Figures for 2011/12 will be finalised in January 2013.
	Information on further education and skills participation and achievements by age, level and geography is published in a supplementary table of a quarterly Statistical First Release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 11 October 2012:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_current
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_supplementary_tables/further_education_skills/

Foreign Investment in UK

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how his Department plans to assess the long-term effect of the London 2012 Olympic Games in promoting foreign investment to the UK.

Michael Fallon: The Games were a unique opportunity to promote Britain as a place to do business, and we expect the benefits of this opportunity to be delivered both this year and in the years to come including attracting new and retaining current foreign direct investment and infrastructure investment.
	UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) is targeted with attracting £6 billion of foreign direct investment and infrastructure investment stimulated by the 17 British Business Embassy Global Business Summits, held at Lancaster House, and that attracted over 4,000 business leaders, global figures and international decision makers.
	UKTI has established strategic relationship management in order to establish an excellent, whole-government relationship with major wealth creators to raise investment and exports, thereby increasing growth and jobs. UKTI are undertaking a follow up exercise with all potential and current investors that attended the British Business Embassy to ensure that every opportunity is followed through to successful conclusion.
	An Annual Investment Report covering the period 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013 will collate all foreign direct investment and infrastructure investment into the UK. Annual Investment Reports will also be produced in forthcoming years.
	Additionally, UKTI is developing with No.10 the GREAT campaigns that will continue to promote the UK in overseas markets.

Green Deal Scheme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what investments (a) UK Green Investments and (b) the Green Investment Bank have made to support the Green Deal.

Michael Fallon: UK Green Investments and, since it became fully operational on 29 October 2012, the UK Green Investment Bank have been exploring in detail proposals to support the financing of the Green Deal, including with the Green Deal Finance Company. The Department of Energy and Climate Change is currently seeking state aid approval for the financing of the Green Deal. Any investment by the Green Investment Bank to support the Green Deal would need to be consistent with the terms of that approval.

New Businesses: South Yorkshire

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what support he is providing to entrepreneurs in (a) Barnsley Central constituency and (b) South Yorkshire who want to start their own business.

Michael Fallon: We want to make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a business, and for the next decade to be the most entrepreneurial and dynamic in Britain's history. The Government's vision is for many more people in the UK to have the opportunity, aspiration and motivation to use their talent and initiative to be enterprising.
	Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) took place last week (12-18 November 2012) and given the current economic conditions, we believe that it continues to be crucial to take steps to create a more entrepreneurial UK. The 2012 campaign has been built around the message: “Pass it on!”—passing on the practical help and support needed by early start-ups and individuals.
	In January, the Prime Minister launched “Business in You”, a major campaign to inspire people to realise their business ambitions. We have changed the way that we help entrepreneurs access the information, guidance and advice they need to start and grow a business. We have put in place a range of services including:
	The new home for Government services and information online:
	www.gov.uk
	has been built to make it simpler and faster for people to find what they need from Government. To help those that cannot use internet services, we will continue to offer support through the Business Link helpline (on 0845 6009006).
	A mentoring portal:
	www.mentorsme.co.uk
	providing an easy route to find experienced business mentors.
	A new three year Growth Accelerator programme which will provide high quality coaching support for up to 26,000 small businesses with high growth potential.
	The Government are also ensuring entrepreneurs can access the finance they need by:
	In September, we announced a new Government-backed business bank, including new Government funding of £1 billion. It will aim to attract private sector funding so that, when fully operational, it could support up to £10 billion of new and additional business lending. More detail on the design of the bank and the types of interventions it will support will be provided later in the autumn.
	In July, the Government and Bank of England launched the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS), which allows banks and building societies to borrow at cheaper rates from the Bank of England for periods of up to four years. The FLS creates strong incentives for banks to increase lending to UK households and businesses by lowering interest rates and increasing access to credit.
	In May we launched a new £10 million Start-Up Loan Scheme aimed at 18 to 24-year-olds.
	We have increased the funds available to invest through the Business Finance Partnership (BFP) to £1.2 billion. Government will allocate £100 million of the BFP to invest through non-traditional lending channels that can reach smaller businesses.
	The Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme will continue until 2014/15, providing, subject to demand, over £2 billion of additional lending.
	We have established a £50 million Business Angel Co-Investment Fund to encourage Business Angel investment.
	We are increasing our commitment to our Enterprise Capital Funds programme by £200 million, providing for more than £300 million of venture capital investment to address the equity gap for early stage innovative SMEs.
	Local Support
	The Government has also worked with Local Enterprise Partners (LEPs) to ensure they understand the availability of Government's support to business. Many LEPs have the promotion of enterprise, access to finance and business growth as key strategic priorities. The Leeds and North Yorkshire LEP, for example, runs a mentoring programme via the Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.

Overseas Trade: Fiji

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the value was of UK (a) imports from and (b) exports to Fiji in each of the last five years.

Michael Fallon: The value of UK exports and imports of goods, to and from Fiji, in the last five years is given in the following table. The data are sourced from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Overseas Trade Statistics database and are publicly available on the UK Trade Info website:
	www.uktradeinfo.com
	
		
			 £ million 
			  UK imports of goods from Fiji UK exports of goods to Fiji 
			 2011 54.65 4.74 
			 2010 31.17 5.12 
			 2009 79.55 6.17 
			 2008 85.70 6.42 
			 2007 62.46 4.86 
			 Source: HMRC Overseas Trade Statistics

Public Houses

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether as part of the review into the self-regulation of the pub industry the following organisations have been contacted (a) CAMRA, (b) Fair Pint, (c) UNITE the Union, (d) the Independent Pub Confederation, (e) the GMB union, (f) the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers, (g) the Guild of Master Victuallers, (h) the Society of Independent Brewers, (i) the Forum of Private Business and (j) the All Party Save the Pub Group.

Jo Swinson: In the first instance, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), has contacted a number of the organisations to ascertain the facts of how the self-regulatory approach is working. These organisations are the members of the Pubs Independent Rent Review Scheme (PIRRS) Board that oversees the Pubs Independent Conciliation and Arbitration Service— which includes the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers and the Guild of Master Victuallers—and the Independent Pubs Confederation, of which most of the other organisations named above are members. We are happy to receive evidence from the organisations named above as to the facts of how the self-regulatory approach is working, and any further comments they wish to submit.
	The Chair of the All Party Save the Pub Group has been informed of the review.

Regional Growth Fund

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 29 October 2012, Official Report, column 115W, on Regional Growth Fund, how many (a) face to face meetings and (b) telephone conversations he and his officials have had with the 30 projects that withdrew from the Regional Growth Fund prior to their decision to withdraw.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 19 November 2012
	Information on the exact number of meetings and telephone conversations held with Regional Growth Fund applicants prior to their decision to withdraw is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost in terms of staff hours spent checking case records. However we can confirm that very extensive discussions are held with each and every bidder during the contracting phase and every effort is taken to rescue a troubled project before a withdrawal occurs.

Regional Growth Fund

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 8 November 2012, Official Report, column 697W, on Regional Growth Fund, how many Regional Growth Fund (a) round one and (b) round two bids were withdrawn due to (i) withdrawal of support from the parent company, (ii) inability to secure matched funding, (iii) failure to get planning permission, (iv) change in market conditions and (v) other reasons.

Michael Fallon: In my answer to the hon. Member of 8 November 2012, Official Report, column 697W, I gave these categories as examples of reasons why bidders have withdrawn from the Regional Growth Fund. These companies withdrew without prejudice. To be more specific about reasons for withdrawal would not be appropriate or fair to the bidders concerned as it could undermine future commercial interests. I am, therefore, not able to expand upon my answer of 8 November 2012.

South East

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many awards have been made from the regional growth fund since it was launched in the South East.

Michael Fallon: The Regional Growth Fund (RGF) supports the Government's ambitions to make the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business as well as encouraging investment and exports: the fund's objective are to help rebalance the economy by supporting those areas and communities dependant on the public sector. 11 awards in Rounds 1 and 2 have been made to projects and programmes in the South East since the launch of the RGF (to a value of £80.9 million); two have withdrawn (to a value of £13 million). Furthermore, six projects or programmes have been selected to go forward in Round 3.

UK Trade and Investment

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether there are minimum revenue or profit requirements before UK Trade and Investment will help small businesses seeking to grow.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 19 November 2012
	UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) does not insist on minimum revenue or profit requirements before helping small businesses to grow. There is a range of information and support available to every business. The majority of companies supported by UKTIs regional network are small companies with less than 10 employees.
	However for certain programmes, UKTI will seek to satisfy itself on a case by case basis that any individual company has the management and financial capability to undertake trade development activity given the challenges and resources required to win business in overseas markets.

EDUCATION

Children in Care

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to publish the recommendations of the task and finish group on out of borough placements.

Edward Timpson: The Out of Area Placements Task and Finish Group has been focusing on how to improve arrangements, and the quality of care and support, for looked after children placed 'out of area' by their local authorities. This is part of the wider work announced by Ministers in July to reform children's residential care. The group has comprised senior expert representation from children's services, local authorities, providers, Ofsted and others. It has met frequently over the summer.
	The Task and Finish Group has been working in parallel with two other expert groups established to take forward work on the reform of children's residential care: a group focusing on improving data about looked after children who go missing from care, and a further group with a broad remit to consider how to improve the overall quality of children's residential provision.
	We are considering the Task and Finish Group's proposals alongside those made by the other expert groups, and will announce the action we intend to take in due course.

Children in Care

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and which (a) primary and (b) secondary schools had more than five per cent of pupils in care in each local authority area in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Edward Timpson: In 2011 (the latest year for which data is available), there were 25 state-funded mainstream primary schools with more than 5% of pupils looked after. Of these schools, 23 are small primary schools. These schools have a small number on roll and, as such, even one or two looked after pupils will result in the school having more than 5% of pupils looked after.
	To protect the confidentiality and identity of these vulnerable pupils we have not named the schools in this response.
	The following table shows the local authorities where these schools are located. There were no state-funded mainstream secondary schools with more than 5% of pupils looked after.
	
		
			 Number of primary schools where more than 5% of pupils are looked after children (1 ) by local authority  - 2011 
			  Number 
			 Bradford 1 
			 Cheshire East 1 
			 Cheshire West and Chester 1 
			 Cornwall 1 
			 Cumbria 1 
			 Devon 2 
			 Durham 2 
			 Gloucestershire 1 
			 Herefordshire 1 
			 Lancashire 2 
			 Leicestershire 1 
			 Lincolnshire 2 
			 Norfolk 1 
			 North Lincolnshire 1 
			 North Yorkshire 2 
			 Northumberland 1 
			 Somerset 1 
			 Suffolk 1 
			 Worcestershire 2 
			 (1) Based on children looked after continuously for six months at 31 March 2011 matched to their School Census return for January 2011.

Children in Care: Missing Persons

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to publish the recommendations of his Department's Expert Data Group in respect of children missing from care.

Edward Timpson: The Expert Data Group has been chaired by the Department and includes representatives from the Association of Directors of Children's Services, police organisations, the Children's Society and Ofsted. It has met frequently since July to consider how to safeguard looked after children who go missing, or are at risk of going missing, by developing improved local and national data collection arrangements, and strengthening practice amongst carers, children's homes, local authorities and the police.
	The Expert Data Group is working alongside two other expert groups established to take forward work on the reform of children's residential care: a group focusing on how to improve arrangements, and the quality of care and support, for looked after children placed 'out of area' by their local authorities; and a further group with a broad remit to consider how to improve the overall quality of children's residential provision.
	We are considering the Expert Data Group's proposals, alongside those made by the other expert groups, and will announce the action we intend to take in due course.

Children: Abuse

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the incidence of sexual abuse of children in England in each year since 2000; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: The Department does not hold information on all incidences of child sexual abuse in England. However, the Department does have information available on the number of children who became the subject of child protection plans each year where the initial category of abuse was ‘Sexual Abuse’. These numbers are shown in the table.
	
		
			 Child protection plans beginning with a recorded initial category of abuse of ‘Sexual Abuse’ (1) , in England, 2000 - 12 (2) 
			 Year ending 31 March: Number 
			 2000 (3)3,600 
			 2001 (3)3,200 
			   
			 2002 2,800 
			 2003 3,000 
			 2004 2,800 
			 2005 2,700 
			 2006 2,600 
			 2007 2,500 
			 2008 2,300 
			 2009 2,200 
			   
			 2010 2,500 
			 2011 2,700 
			 2012 2,700 
			 (1) Where a child has become the subject of a plan more than once in a year then each instance will be counted. (2 )Figures for the year ending 31 March 2000 to 31 March 2009 are taken from the CPR3 return, figures for the years ending 31 March 2010 onwards are from the Children in Need census. (3) From 2002, only the main category of abuse was recorded. Where multiple categories were present, the category of abuse was recorded as “multiple”. It is not possible to tell incidence of sexual abuse from the multiple category. Prior to 2002, all categories of abuse were recorded, so in these years, sexual abuse is included as the main or additional category of abuse hence the apparent higher numbers in these years. Source: Child Protection and Referrals 3 (CPR3) and Children in Need (CIN) census 
		
	
	The latest figures on children who were the subject of a child protection plan were published in Statistical First Release (SFR) 27/2012 ‘Characteristics of Children in Need, in England, 2011-12’, available at the following link:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001095/index.shtml

Children: Abuse

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what statutory requirements there are for local authorities to report instances of child sexual exploitation.

Edward Timpson: While there are no statutory requirements for local authorities to report instances of child sexual exploitation in particular, it is the responsibility of all public bodies and organisations working with children to have a clear child protection policy and know how to raise concerns with the relevant bodies, including the police.
	Guidance was also issued to local authorities on 19 April 2007 in Local Authority Circular 2007(25) giving details of the arrangements for local authorities to provide Ofsted and the Department for Education (from 1 October 2010) with statutory notifications of incidents affecting children; this can include incidents of child sexual exploitation.

Children: Human Trafficking

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent discussions he has had with the Children's Improvement Board on creating a programme of work to support local authorities to meet the needs of trafficked children through child protection frameworks.

Edward Timpson: The Department has had discussions with the Children's Improvement Board about support for local authorities to meet the needs of trafficked children, particularly in relation to child sexual exploitation, as part of wider discussions with the CIB about its annual programme of work.

GCSE: Children in Care

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 24 September 2012, Official Report, House of Lords, column 1428, on children: looked-after children, how many and what proportion of children in care who attended schools classified as (a) inadequate, (b) satisfactory, (c) good and (d) outstanding achieved (i) five GCSEs at grade A* to C, including English and mathematics but excluding equivalents, (ii) grade A* to C in English GCSE, (iii) grade A* to C in mathematics GCSE, (iv) a grade A* to C in both English and mathematics GCSE and (v) grade A* to C in English, mathematics, two sciences, a foreign language and history or geography GCSE in each local authority area in the most recent school year for which figures are available.

Edward Timpson: Tables have been placed in the House Libraries showing the number of looked-after children eligible for key stage 4 who attended a school classified as inadequate, satisfactory, good or outstanding according to Ofsted inspections in each local authority in England, and the number and percentage of these children who achieved GCSEs. The figures relate to children who have been looked after continuously for 12 months up to 31 March 2011 and their GCSE achievement in 2011. Ofsted inspection data relate to the latest inspection in the period before March 2011.

Offences against Children: Kirklees

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to publish the full serious case review first produced by Kirklees Safeguarding Children Board relating to the case of child SM from February 2008.

Edward Timpson: holding answer 8 November 2012
	The Department has been working with Kirklees Local Safeguarding Children Board on the publication of the Family M serious case review. This is currently subject to legal proceedings relating to publication of the report on which the Department is unable to comment further at this stage.
	The Government is fully committed to the publication of serious case review reports. We are determined to foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement in all organisations responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and the publication of serious case review reports plays an important part in this.

Physical Education: Curriculum

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether it is his policy to maintain a compulsory minimum amount of two hours each week to be spent on physical education in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools as part of the National Curriculum.

Edward Timpson: The previous Government's targets for physical education were wholly aspirational and not compulsory. Indeed, the law specifically prevents the Secretary of State from telling schools how much time they should devote to PE, or to any other National Curriculum subject. That is for schools to decide.
	PE will remain a compulsory subject at all four Key Stages following the review of the National Curriculum. The draft National Programme of Study for PE will be sent out for consultation in the new year. It will place a greater emphasis on competitive sport than previous versions and will retain the requirements relating to swimming in primary schools.

Primary Education: Speech and Language Disorders

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and which primary schools had more than five per cent of pupils in (a) reception, (b) year 1 and (c) year 2 with speech, language and communications difficulties in each local authority area in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Edward Timpson: In January 2012, there were:
	2,815 state-funded primary schools where more than 5% of pupils in reception had speech, language and communications difficulties.
	3,421 state-funded primary schools where more than 5% of pupils in year 1 had such difficulties.
	3,058 state-funded primary schools where more than 5% of pupils in year 2 had such difficulties.
	Lists of these schools and their local authority area have been placed in the House Libraries. Schools can appear in more than one list.
	The latest special educational needs information is published in the 'Special Educational Needs in England, January 2012' Statistical First Release at
	http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001075/index.shtml

Schools: Sports

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the cost was of the annual PE and Sport Survey in each year from 2003-04 to 2009-10.

Edward Timpson: Information for 2003/04 is unavailable. The contracted costs of the PE and Sport Survey from 2004 to 2010 were as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2004/05 157,100 
			 2005/06 211,325 
			 2006/07 221,220 
			 2007/08 202,198 
			 2008/09 242,938.00 
			 2009/10 338,150 
		
	
	In addition to these costs, completing the survey each year placed a considerable burden on schools.

Social Work

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether the new Chief Social Worker for Children's Services will be recruited by his Department or the Department of Health.

Edward Timpson: The Chief Social Workers for both Children and Families and Adult Social Work will be recruited in a joint exercise by the Department for Education and the Department of Health.

Special Educational Needs

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children in each local authority area (a) are on school action, (b) are on school action plus and (c) have a statement of special educational needs.

Edward Timpson: The requested information has been placed in the House Libraries.
	The latest special educational needs information is published in the ‘Special Educational Needs in England, January 2012’ Statistical First Release at
	http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001075/index.shtml

Special Educational Needs

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the number of children currently in receipt of a statement of special educational need who will be eligible for an education, health and care plan; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: As at January 2012 there were 230,155 children with statements of special educational need (SEN) maintained by local authorities. In September 2012, the Government published draft provisions on reforming support for special educational needs, for pre-legislative scrutiny. Under the draft provisions, any child or young person who would be eligible for a statement of SEN currently would be eligible for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) in future. The Government is considering possible arrangements for transition of those with statements of SEN to EHCPs in future, learning from the SEND pathfinders.

Special Educational Needs

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children currently placed on the School Action programme (a) will and (b) will not be eligible for the new education, health and care plan; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: Under our Green Paper proposals for Special Educational Needs, reflected in the draft legislation currently subject to pre-legislative scrutiny, any child or young person who would be eligible for a statement of SEN currently would be eligible for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) in future.
	School Action is not a centrally stipulated programme and the classification is used by different schools and local authorities in different ways. It is not formally a precursor to a statement, and many pupils with SEN will have their needs met while supported under School Action or School Action Plus without needing a statement. However, the majority of children with statements will have originally been on the School Action or School Action Plus as, in line with the SEN Code of Practice, local authority guidance to schools usually specifies that in most cases support under School Action or School Action Plus should have been tried before requesting a statement.
	This is expected to continue under our new arrangements, and we are also looking at how to bring together the School Action and School Action Plus categories to help secure better teaching and support for those that do not have an EHCP. Any child that would have gone on to have a statement after being supported under School Action would in the future go on to have an EHCP.

Special Educational Needs

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education with reference to his draft Children and Families Bill, whether he proposes to transfer funding from the Education Funding Agency to local authorities to administer the education of young people aged 16 to 25 years old with a disability or learning difficulty.

Edward Timpson: From April 2013 the Department will be transferring funds from the Education Funding Agency to local authorities' Dedicated Schools Grant allocations to enable them to pay for the additional education support costs of those students, aged 16 to 25-years-old, with high level learning difficulties or disabilities. The Department has consulted on regulations which will continue to allow local authorities to use this grant for costs and overheads associated with the administration of funds in support of these young people. These regulations are planned to take effect from next April. Local authorities will continue to be funded directly to cover the costs of assessing children and young people where necessary and developing an EHCP under the new arrangements.

CABINET OFFICE

Big Lottery Fund

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful applications for Big Lottery funding were received from (i) Gillingham and Rainham constituency, (ii) Medway and (iii) the UK in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: This information is owned by Big Lottery Fund. The following tables provide the number of awards made and the number of unsuccessful applications received from the Gillingham and Rainham constituency, Medway, and the UK in each of the last five years. The figures refer only to full applications and include applications that were withdrawn by the applicant.
	
		
			 Gillingham and Rainham 
			 Financial year Number of awards Number of unsuccessful applications 
			 2007-08 7 10 
			 2008-09 9 12 
			 2009-10 13 9 
			 2010-11 7 9 
			 2011-12 7 9 
		
	
	
		
			 Medway 
			 Financial year Number of awards Number of unsuccessful applications 
			 2007-08 21 35 
			 2008-09 24 46 
			 2009-10 15 37 
			 2010-11 24 43 
			 2011-12 22 31 
		
	
	
		
			 UK-wide 
			 Financial year Number of awards Number of unsuccessful applications 
			 2007-08 14,231 19,037 
			 2008-09 12,345 13,527 
			 2009-10 13,984 13,437 
			 2010-11 11,880 17,476 
			 2011-12 12,376 14,315

Military Medals Review

Nicola Blackwood: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will publish the names and qualifications of the members of the Independent Military Medals Review panel.

Nick Hurd: Sir John Holmes GCVO KBE CMG is leading the review supported by Brigadier (Retd) Brian A. H. Parritt CBE. Sir John Holmes' qualifications are detailed in Annex J of his Military Medals Interim review at:
	www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/sites/default/files/resources/Medals-Interim-Report-July-12.pdf
	Brigadier Parritt served for 37 years in the British Army, culminating in five years as Director of the Intelligence Corps. Throughout Brigadier Parritt's service he held a variety of senior Intelligence and Security appointments all over the world, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Malta, Libya and Cyprus. He is a graduate of Hong Kong University in Chinese (Mandarin) and the Staff College, Camberley; he is a Freeman of the City of London and from 1981 to 1985, was an Aide de Camp to Her Majesty the Queen. In 1986 he was appointed Honorary Colonel of the Intelligence Corps Volunteers and in 2001 was appointed to be the first Deputy Colonel Commandant of the Intelligence Corps. He was Chairman of the Intelligence Corps Museum Board of Trustees for 20 years and remains a Trustee. In 2008 he was presented with the “Annual Award for Distinguished Service to the Intelligence Corps”.

Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the staffing to spend ratio for procuring services is in his Department.

Nick Hurd: The Cabinet Office has a small core team of procurement officials to run and manage procurement for the Department. The Cabinet Office also uses the Government Procurement Service's Spot Buying Team to procure goods and services.
	Details of spend on goods and services are published on the Cabinet Office website at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/business-plan-quarterly-data-summary

PRIME MINISTER

Cabinet: Bristol

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  what criteria were used to determine the venue for the Cabinet meeting which took place in Bristol on 12 November 2012;
	(2)  from which budgets expenses for travel for (a) himself and (b) each other member of Cabinet to attend the Cabinet meeting in Bristol on 12 November 2012 were drawn;
	(3)  whether he (a) sought and (b) received advice from the Cabinet Secretary on the appropriateness of the venue and timing of the Cabinet meeting held in Bristol on 12 November 2012;
	(4)  on what date it was agreed to hold the meeting of the Cabinet which took place in Bristol on 12 November 2012;
	(5)  what the cost to the public purse was of the Cabinet meeting held in Bristol on 12 November 2012.

David Cameron: Regional Cabinets and associated visits allow Ministers to hear at first hand the views of people in different areas of the country. The region, timing and venue of the Cabinet meeting were decided in consultation with the Cabinet Secretary.
	There was no cost for using the venue. Departments and agencies will have incurred costs in terms of travel, staff time and other support. The cost of any security provided by the police is a matter for the relevant police force.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Green Deal Scheme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what criteria he used to assess which cities should receive part of the £12 million green deal pilot funding announced by his Department on 21 September 2012.

Gregory Barker: The cities awarded funding were those that had been identified as part of the Cabinet Office's City Deal's programme. Funding to support Green Deal related work was allocated based on the cities' Green Deal bids and the populations these covered.
	The Department remains in discussion with Liverpool regarding funding its plans to test key elements of the Green Deal.

Green Deal Scheme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral answer of 1 November 2012, Official Report, column 357, on Green Deal, how many telephone calls have been received by the energy saving advice service helpline since its launch.

Gregory Barker: The Energy Saving Advice Service (ESAS) helpline has answered 79,029 calls since the service started on 2 April 2012 until the end of October 2012.
	The average calls ESAS answered per week in April were 2,807 whereas in October they were 4,484.

Local Government

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 7 November 2012, Official Report, column 635W, on Local Government, for what reasons his Department has not yet facilitated meetings between the Local Government Association and other Government Departments.

Gregory Barker: The Local Government Association meets regularly with other Government Departments, and it has not been necessary for DECC to facilitate them.

Natural Gas

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what (a) information his Department has received from OFGEM and (b) discussions he has had with OFGEM on steps taken by OFGEM since 2005 in relation to reports of misconduct in the UK gas market.

John Hayes: holding answer 19 November 2012
	Ofgem and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) are currently analysing information received in relation to allegations of price manipulation in the gas market. It is important not to pre-empt the work of the enforcement agencies whilst they assess the detail.
	I am not aware of any conversations that the Department has had with Ofgem in relation to reports of misconduct in the UK gas market since 2005.

Pay

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many employees in his Department are paid in excess of (a) £80,000 and (b) £100,000.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change has (a) 21 employees who are paid in excess of £80,000 and (b) 13 employees who are paid in excess of £100,000.
	This information is accurate as of 30 September 2012.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Dyslexia

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what support his Department provides to help people with dyslexia find employment.

Esther McVey: DWP Jobcentre Plus advisers focus on providing a personalised, flexible service. This approach recognises that individuals may have conditions or circumstances that require different levels of support. They will discuss with the claimant how significantly they are affected by their disability, in relation to employment. They will also help the individual to agree job goals and the best way forward into employment, which may include whichever ‘Get Britain Working’ measures are offered locally, or referral to contracted programmes, such as the Work programme or other non contracted provision, if appropriate.
	Anyone who requires more specialist help, because of their disability, will be able to see a disability employment adviser, who can identify suitable job opportunities, support the completion of job application forms, while acting as an advocate for the individual, in approaches made to potential employers. They will also aim to identify work solutions, overcoming or minimising any difficulties, relating to a claimant's disability. If they are having difficulty in identifying work solutions, they will seek help from a DWP work psychologist. They will be aware of appropriate local support organisations, where they are available.
	DWP also chairs the Hidden Impairments National Group which is working to help overcome barriers to employment, including Dyslexia.
	Disability employment advisers are also able to refer claimants to the Work programme. However, the Work programme may not be the best option for all disabled customers. Work choice and residential training sits alongside the Work programme, helping disabled people who face the most complex barriers, to finding and staying in employment.
	When the individual finds a job, the disability employment adviser can signpost them to access to work, a specialist disability service, which is delivered by Jobcentre Plus, providing practical advice and support to disabled people and their employers, helping them overcome work-related obstacles, resulting from disability.

Employment and Support Allowance

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were receiving incapacity benefit but, following a medical, were no longer entitled to employment and support allowance in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12.

Mark Hoban: On 6 November 2012 the Department for Work and Pensions published official statistics on the reassessment of incapacity benefits claimants for employment and support allowance (ESA). The report and its supplementary tables can be found at:
	http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/index.php?page=esa_ibr

Personal Independence Payment

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what consideration was given to Atos' record in respect of the work capability assessment before awarding it the contract for the personal independence payment assessment.

Esther McVey: Atos were successful in Lots 1 and 3 following an open and fair competition and were assessed against established and published selection criteria. The full criteria, scoring methodology and specification were published on Business Link's Contract Finder website.
	http://www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/

Personal Independence Payment

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what criteria his Department used to award the contract for the personal independence payment assessment in south England.

Esther McVey: The providers in each lot were successful following a robust, open and fair competition and were assessed against established and published selection criteria. The criteria for each of the lots were the same. The full criteria, scoring methodology and specification were published on Business Link's Contract Finder website.
	http://www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/

Personal Independence Payment

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department plans to undertake a public consultation on any guidance to be issued to assessment providers for personal independence payments; and when he expects to publish any such guidance.

Esther McVey: The guidance on carrying out personal independence payment will be subject to ongoing update and refinement. While we do not intend to run a formal public consultation on the guidance, we will publish it and will consider any comments received from interested parties. We also expect assessment providers to work with organisations of and for disabled people as they develop their own, more detailed guidance and training products.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of The Tipping Point report produced by the Hardest Hit campaign; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: No formal assessment of the “Tipping Point” report has been undertaken but the Government welcomes any views from disabled people or their representatives regarding the changes we are introducing.
	Our welfare reforms will ensure the billions we spend, better reflect today's understanding of disability and offer the targeted support disabled people need to live independent lives.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what guidance his Department has issued to Atos and Capita on the active gathering of written evidence about the disability of a claimant with (a) autism and (b) any other life-long condition before arranging a face-to-face assessment;
	(2)  what guidance his Department plans to issue to providers of the personal independence payment assessment process on (a) the role of the provider in collecting written evidence relating to the claimant's disability and (b) the determination of claimants to be invited for a face-to-face consultation.

Esther McVey: As part of the personal independence payment assessment we intend to make greater use of appropriate evidence to support claims. Evidence may be sent in with the claim form or requested by the provider where appropriate.
	Further evidence will not be requested in all cases. Health professionals should seek additional evidence, where they believe that it would help inform their advice. The decision to request further evidence should consider the circumstances of the individual case and whether further evidence is likely to add value to the assessment process.
	Health professionals will carry out assessments on the basis of paper evidence in cases where they believe there is sufficient and robust evidence to provide advice on how the assessment criteria relate to the claimant.
	If there is insufficient evidence for a paper-based assessment, a face-to-face consultation will be to be necessary to accurately assess the claimant.
	While face-to-face consultations will be an important part of the assessment for many individuals, allowing an in-depth look at their circumstances, they will not be appropriate in every case. For example, we will not be requiring people claiming under the terminal illness provisions to attend face-to-face consultations.
	We will give providers guidance on carrying out personal independence payment assessments, including carrying out paper-based assessments, inviting claimants to face-to-face consultations and on the collection of evidence.
	The guidance will not advise on whether further evidence should be sought or when a face-to-face consultation will be appropriate in relation to specific health conditions or impairments. Health conditions and/or disabilities can affect people in very different ways and all decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will discuss the implementation of universal credit with the Business Application Software Developers Association.

Mark Hoban: We remain committed to keeping Parliament updated on universal credit implementation and will, of course, listen to any representations from organisations such as the association mentioned.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of employees who earn less than the lower earnings limit and do not fall within the PAYE scheme; and how such employees will establish their entitlement to universal credit.

Mark Hoban: It is estimated that there will be approximately 600,000 working individuals on universal credit once it is fully implemented earning less than the lower earnings limit and we only expect a small proportion of these to not be in PAYE schemes.
	Claimants whose earnings are not made available through the RTI system, including those that are below the lower earnings limit, will establish entitlement by self-reporting their earnings.

Work Capability Assessment

Michael Crockart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many appeals have been made by claimants deemed fit to work as a result of the work capability assessments for employment and support allowance in the latest period for which figures are available; and how many such appeals have resulted in the claimant being placed in the (a) work-related activity group and (b) support group.

Mark Hoban: The Department regularly publishes official statistics on employment and support allowance (ESA) and the work capability assessment (WCA). The latest report was published in October 2012 and can be found at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/index.php?page=esa_wca
	Comparing table 1a against table 4 in the supplementary tables of the publication mentioned above shows how many appeals have resulted in the claimant being placed in the work-related activity group and support group.

TRANSPORT

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many properties situated (a) 100 metres or less and (b) over 100 metres from the route of the proposed HS2 line have been accepted onto the Exceptional Hardship Scheme.

Simon Burns: The Department does not publish information relating to the distance from the line of route of successful applications to the HS2 Exceptional Hardship Scheme. There is no set distance within which properties qualify and the distance criterion is only one of five criteria assessed as part of an application. We do not believe it would be in the public interest to release this information as it risks providing misleading information to potential applicants that would undermine the effective working of the scheme.

West Coast Railway Line: Franchises

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 24 October 2012, Official Report, column 897W, on West Coast Railway Line: franchises, what costs were incurred by his Department for consultancy services relating to the cancelled InterCity West Coast franchise competition.

Simon Burns: The Department paid WS Atkins £471,080 (excluding VAT) for technical advisory services relating to the InterCity West Coast franchise competition.
	The Department paid Eversheds LLP £340,859 (including non-recoverable VAT) for legal advisory services relating to the InterCity West Coast franchise competition.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Elected Office: Disabled People

Amber Rudd: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress he has made on his proposals for additional support for disabled people to achieve elected office.

Chloe Smith: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to her by the Deputy Prime Minister at topical questions earlier today.

Voting Reform

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to reform voting methods for general elections.

Chloe Smith: The Government has no further plans for changing voting methods for general elections but keeps all matters relating to the conduct of elections under review.
	The Government has brought forward provisions in the Electoral Registration and Administration Bill to extend the timetable for UK parliamentary elections from 17 to 25 days. This will improve the service that is provided to voters, particularly overseas and service voters based abroad.

Individual Electoral Registration

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his policy is on individual electoral registration; and if he will make a statement.

Chloe Smith: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to questions 3 and 4 at oral questions earlier today.

Devolution: England

Iain Stewart: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent progress the Government have made on devolution in England; and if he will make a statement.

Nicholas Clegg: The coalition agreement set out the Government’s commitment to devolving power to the most appropriate level and there are many ways we are delivering this. We have created Local Enterprise Partnerships to drive growth; we are putting greater financial powers in the hands of local authorities through local government finance reforms; we have given local authorities a general power of competence; we have agreed one wave of city deals to hand over real powers and resources; and in October, the Government invited a second wave of cities to take part in a City Deal. We are also now considering the review from Lord Heseltine, who has brought forward many innovative recommendations to devolve powers to localities.

Parliamentary Boundaries

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent discussions he has had with the Boundary Commission on parliamentary boundaries.

Clive Betts: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent progress has been made on the review of parliamentary boundaries.

Chloe Smith: The Boundary Commissions are continuing with the boundary review in accordance with the legislation which requires them to report before October 2013.

Flexible Parenting Leave

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what role he envisages for flexible parenting arrangements as part of the social mobility strategy.

Nicholas Clegg: Good parenting has a crucial influence on child development, ensuring that children gain the cognitive and social skills they need to do well.
	The Social Mobility Strategy set out our intention to help parents better balance work and home life. Last week I announced a range of new family-friendly policies, including flexible parental leave, which will do just that: replacing the outdated and inflexible system of maternity, paternity and adoption leave with a system which gives families the rights they need to choose what works best for them.

Trade Unions: Political Party Funding

David Amess: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received on the role of trade unions in the funding of political parties.

Chloe Smith: Cross-party talks on the reform of party political funding are ongoing. Reform is best achieved as far as possible by consensus, and the Government hopes agreement will be reached swiftly.

Lobbying

Jon Trickett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  how much money his Department has spent on the lobbying reform agenda since January 2012;
	(2)  how many civil servants have been working on the lobbying reform agenda since January 2012;
	(3)  what external advice he has received on the lobbying agenda; how much such advice cost; and from which organisations such advice was sought.

Chloe Smith: A variety of officials within the Cabinet Office dealt with lobbying reform as part of their duties. It is not possible to distinguish between the time they spent on lobbying reform and other issues. Other costs, from January to October 2012, were principally for the publication of the consultation document and totalled £1,391. Ministers paid for no external advice on the lobbying agenda, although a range of views have been received as part of the usual consultation process.

DEFENCE

Canada

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) Challenger tanks, (b) small armoured vehicles, (c) lorries and (d) Land Rovers were repaired at BATUS in Canada in each of the last five years; and what the total annual cost of these repairs was.

Philip Dunne: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Canada

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress is being made on replacing the Gazelle helicopter at BATUS in Canada.

Philip Dunne: The British Army's Gazelle fleet, which is currently operated in the United Kingdom and at British Army training Unit Suffield (BATUS) in Canada, is due to be withdrawn from service in 2018. Options to provide the capability currently provided by the Gazelle Fleet beyond 2018 are being considered and a decision will be taken in due course.

Defence Information Infrastructure

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library the findings of Project Embrace.

Philip Dunne: The document has been placed in the Library of the House.

Libya

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for which enduring tasks the Royal Navy was required to withdraw assets during the Libyan operations.

Andrew Murrison: During the operations in Libya the Royal Navy reprioritised a number of its assets, some of which were nominally allocated to standing or contingent enduring tasks. A range of mitigation measures were put in place to manage any resultant impact on operations.

Marchwood Military Port

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) current and (b) planned future duty roster is for protecting the Sea Mounting Centre at Marchwood on (i) weekdays and (ii) weekends of the (A) Defence Fire Service and (B) Hampshire Fire and Rescue; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: holding answer 24 October 2012
	The current arrangements at the Sea Mounting Centre Marchwood provide for a 24 hours seven days a week operational Fire and Rescue Service, consisting of one fire appliance and a minimum crew of 5 fire-fighters provided by the Defence Fire Risk Management Organisation (DFRMO).
	The planned future arrangements will provide for an operational Fire and Rescue Service provided by DFRMO consisting of one fire appliance and a minimum crew of five fire-fighters during normal site operating hours only, primarily Monday to Friday working days; exact timings are yet to be agreed. In the event that higher risk activities are undertaken outside of normal site operating hours DFRMO will provide additional fire cover for the duration of the activity. Higher risk activities may include the loading and unloading of munitions or other hazardous cargo.
	This decision follows a DFRMO risk assessment which identified areas where reductions in onsite fire and rescue services would not compromise Defence assets, public safety or prevent high risk activities from being undertaken.
	The onsite fire cover arrangements identified are in addition to the normal Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service predetermined response to the site, which is considered to provide suitable response in line with the level of risk identified.

Military Aircraft

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the ability of the RC135 Airseeker aircraft to meet the Military Aviation Authority's certification and release to source processes as required by the European Aviation Safety Agency Part 21 regulations; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: Ministry of Defence specialists are working closely with their counterparts in the US Air Force to ensure that the RC-135W aircraft will meet UK certification criteria and gain a Release to Service before it enters service in late 2014.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Algeria

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when refugee camps in Tindouf province in Algeria were last visited by officials of his Department.

Alistair Burt: Officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office took part in the last annual World Food Programme/United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees donor mission to the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, in the second quarter of 2011. The 2012 visit has not yet taken place.

Eritrea

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received concerning human rights in Eritrea; what representations he has made to the Government of Eritrea; and what sanctions are in place.

Mark Simmonds: Eritrea's human rights record remains deeply concerning and this is reflected in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Human Rights Report. We closely monitor the human rights situation in Eritrea and our ambassador reports regularly on specific areas of concern. We also receive reports from other sources including the Diaspora and non-governmental organisations such as Reporters Without Borders and Human Rights Watch.
	We regularly raise human rights issues with the Eritrean Government. Most recently, our ambassador raised human rights with President Isaias on 22 October. I also raised human rights with the Eritrean Presidential Advisor on 25 September. In July the UK supported the UN Human Rights Council Resolution which strongly condemned human rights abuses in Eritrea and called for the appointment of a Special Rapporteur.
	In July, the UK supported UN Security Council Resolution 2060 which extended the mandate for the UN sanctions regime. We believe the sanctions, which include an arms embargo, are appropriate, proportionate and carefully targeted to prevent any negative humanitarian impact.

Iran

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects the next meeting of the E3+3 and Iran to be held.

Alistair Burt: The E3+3 have not yet set a date for their next meeting with Iran. E3+3 Political Directors will meet on 21 November to consider next steps. Iran needs to engage seriously if negotiations are to progress.

South Korea

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the Republic of Korea conducting whaling for scientific purposes; what his policy is on such activities; and what representations (a) he and (b) other Ministers have made on that subject.

Hugo Swire: On 4 July 2012 at the Annual International Whaling Commission Meeting, the Republic of Korea announced it was considering plans to undertake whaling for scientific research in the future.
	The UK believes lethal research on whales is unnecessary and undermines the International Whaling Commission's moratorium on commercial whaling.
	The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), has not had any discussions with the Republic of Korea on conducting whaling for scientific purposes.
	However, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Natural Environment, Water and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Newbury (Richard Benyon), made the UK's opposition to ‘scientific’ whaling clear at the International Whaling Commission meeting. On 17 July, he also wrote to his counterparts in the Republic of Korea, Mr Oh Jung-kyu, Vice Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery, and Mr Bark Tae-ho. Minister for Trade, urging them to reconsider their plans.
	The UK Government will continue to make our opposition to commercial and scientific whaling known at every appropriate opportunity.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Hillsborough

Stephen Pound: To ask the Attorney-General what progress he has made on preparing an application to the High Court for a new inquest into the Hillsborough disaster.

Dominic Grieve: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the oral question from my hon. Friend the Member for Weaver Vale (Graham Evans) today.

Hillsborough

David Anderson: To ask the Attorney-General if he will expedite the inquest into the death of Kevin Williams who died in the Hillsborough disaster.

Dominic Grieve: My role in relation to an inquest into the death of Kevin Williams is restricted to the powers given to me by section 13 of the Coroners Act 1988 which is to apply to the High Court to quash the original inquest and order a new inquest to be held. The Court will do so if it is satisfied that the evidence before it makes a new inquest necessary or desirable in the interests of justice. I am in the process of preparing such an application for all the inquests into the deaths of all the victims of the Hillsborough disaster and expect to do so in December. If new inquests are ordered, the timing of the inquests will be a matter for the coronial process.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Broadband

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport on what date she was informed that the introduction of the 4G spectrum would adversely affect television reception in certain areas.

Edward Vaizey: The Government has been aware of the potential impact of 4G mobile services in the 800 MHz band on digital television reception in certain areas for some time. Ofcom's technical analysis indicates that around 2.3 million households could be affected, of which 900,000 are likely to rely on digital terrestrial television for their primary viewing. Ofcom held public consultations on the matter in June 2011 and February 2012. The Government wrote to Ofcom in July 2012 to set out its position on the mitigation of interference into the digital television service at 800 MHz and the support that will be offered to consumers, details can be found using the following link:
	www.culture.gov.uk/news/news_stories/9193.aspx
	4G mobile services are important for economic growth and are likely to add £300 million p.a. to UK GDP.

Broadband

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what consideration her Department gave to notifying people in potentially affected areas of the adverse effect of 4G spectrum services on television reception.

Edward Vaizey: My letter of 10 July 2012 to the Chief Executive of Ofcom, details available here:
	www.culture.gov.uk/news/news_stories/9193.aspx
	makes clear that I will require the new 800 MHz licensees to take steps to mitigate interference for the 900,000 households that are likely to be affected and rely on digital terrestrial television for their primary viewing. This includes informing the public, providing filters to mitigate interference free of charge, providing specific support for vulnerable consumers and, where necessary, delivering platform changes. These conditions will be included in the 800 MHz licences which Ofcom will award to successful bidders next spring and the performance of the licensees monitored by an independent Oversight Board currently being established by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Broadband

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what steps she plans to take to ensure that those people who will lose television reception as a result of the launch of the 4G mobile telephone spectrum are informed of available compensation schemes.

Edward Vaizey: The Government has made clear that it is the responsibility of the new 800 MHz licensees, who will be providing 4G mobile services which can interfere with the reception of digital terrestrial television, to take steps to mitigate interference, so that viewers do not lose access to television services. This support will be focused on the estimated 900,000 households who are likely to be affected and rely on digital terrestrial television for their primary viewing. This support will include informing the public, providing filters to mitigate interference free of charge, providing specific support for vulnerable consumers and, where necessary, delivering platform changes. These conditions, which include a requirement that the successful licensees fund, own and operate a joint company to deliver this support, will be included in the 800MHz licences which Ofcom will award to successful bidders next spring, and the performance of the licensees will be monitored by an independent Oversight Board currently being established by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Direct Selling

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to strengthen guidance to Ofcom aimed at stopping cold telephone calls.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 10 September 2012
	Unsolicited telephone calls are a nuisance for consumers and are prohibited under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) 2003 where made to a consumer who is registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) and where the caller does not have prior consent for such calls. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has responsibility for enforcing the TPS and has powers to issue a fine of up to £500,000 for the most serious breaches of the regulations.
	My Department is working to combat this problem and I met with ICO, Ofcom and TPS to press for further action in this area. As a result measures have been introduced that will help to provide more effective protection for consumers. To improve access to information for complaints Ofcom set up new website pages on 1 October at:
	http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/tell-us/telecoms/privacy
	that provides clearer advice on nuisance calls, texts and e-mails and it also published a new Consumer Guide, which provides clearer information and signposts the correct place to make a complaint:
	http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/2012/10/tackling-nuisance-calls-and-messages

Employment Agencies

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what her policy is on the use of offshore employment companies in the supply of public sector workers in her Department and its associated public bodies.

Hugh Robertson: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport only uses centrally let Government Procurement Service contracts to procure contingent labour, which do not use offshore employment companies.

Music

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what the name is of each music hub in England supported by her Department.

Edward Vaizey: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) does not deliver the Music Education Hubs programme. The programme is administered by Arts Council England (ACE) on behalf of DCMS and the Department for Education. The information requested is available on the ACE website.
	The following hubs started operating in September 2012.
	
		
			 Music hub name Area 
			 ArtForms North 
			 Arts First CIC London 
			 Barking and Dagenham Community Music Service London 
			 Barnet Music Service London 
			 Barnsley Music Service North 
			 Bath and North East Somerset Council Midlands and South West 
			 Bedford Borough Council East and South East 
			 Berkshire Maestros East and South East 
			 Bexley Music Service, Bird College London 
			 Birmingham Music Services Midlands and South West 
			 Blackburn with Darwen Music Service North 
			 Blackpool Music Service North 
			 Bolton Music Service North 
			 Brent Music Service London 
			 Brighton and Hove City Council East and South East 
			 Bristol City Council Midlands and South West 
			 Bromley Youth Music Trust London 
			 Buckinghamshire County Council East and South East 
			 Calderdale Council North 
			 Cambridgeshire County Council East and South East 
			 Camden Music Service London 
			 City of York Council North 
			 Cornwall Learning Midlands and South West 
			 Performing Arts Service Midlands and South West 
			 Croydon Music and Arts London 
			 Cumbria Music Service North 
			 Derbyshire City and County Music Service Midlands and South West 
			 Devon LDP Music Service Midlands and South West 
			 Doncaster Music Service North 
			 Dorset Music Service Midlands and South West 
			 Dudley Performing Arts Midlands and South West 
			 Durham Music Service North 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire Council North 
			 East Sussex County Council East and South East 
			 Herefordshire Council Midlands and South West 
			 Enfield Arts Support Service London 
			 Essex County Council East and South East 
			 Forest Arts (Walsall) Midlands and South West 
			 Gateshead Council North 
			 Gloucestershire Music Service Midlands and South West 
			 Greenwich Music Services London 
			 Hampshire County Council Music Service East and South East 
			 Haringey Music and Performing Arts Centre London 
			 Harrow Music Service London 
		
	
	
		
			 Hertfordshire County Council East and South East 
			 Hounslow Music Service London 
			 Hull Music Service North 
			 Inspiring Music East and South East 
			 Isle of Wight Music Service East and South East 
			 Kensington and Chelsea London 
			 Kent Music East and South East 
			 Kingston Music Service London 
			 Kirklees Music School North 
			 Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council North 
			 Lambeth Music Service London 
			 Lancashire Music Service North 
			 Leicester And Leicestershire Arts In Education Midlands and South West 
			 Lewisham Music Service London 
			 Lincolnshire Music Service Midlands and South West 
			 Liverpool Music Support Service North 
			 London Borough of Ealing London 
			 London Borough of Hackney London 
			 London Borough of Havering London 
			 London Borough of Hillingdon London 
			 London Borough of Redbridge London 
			 London Borough of Southwark London 
			 Luton Lifelong Department—Emt East and South East 
			 Manchester City Council North 
			 Medway Council Unitary Authority East and South East 
			 Merton Music Foundation London 
			 Milton Keynes Music Service East and South East 
			 Music and Arts Service North 
			 Music and Performing Arts Service North 
			 Newcastle City Council North 
			 Newham Music Trust London 
			 Northamptonshire M & P Arts Trust Midlands and South West 
			 Norfolk Music and Education Service East and South East 
			 North Lines Music Support service North 
			 North Somerset Music Service Midlands and South West 
			 North Tyneside Music Service North 
			 North Yorkshire County Music Service North 
			 Nottingham City Council Midlands and South West 
			 Nottinghamshire County Council Midlands and South West 
			 Oxfordshire County Music Service East and South East 
			 Peterborough City Council East and South East 
			 Plymouth Youth Music Service Midlands and South West 
			 Portsmouth Music Service East and South East 
			 Richmond Music Trust London 
			 Rotherham Schools' Music Service North 
			 Sandbach School North 
			 Sandwell Music Service Midlands and South West 
			 Sefton Council North 
			 Sheffield Music Service North 
			 Shropshire Music Service Midlands and South West 
			 Slough Borough Council East and South East 
			 Solihull Music Service Midlands and South West 
			 Somerset County Council Midlands and South West 
			 SoundStorm Midlands and South West 
			 South Gloucestershire Council Midlands and South West 
			 Southampton City Council, Southampton Music Services East and South East 
			 Southend-On-Sea Borough Council East and South East 
			 St Helens Council Music Service North 
			 Staffordshire Performing Arts Midlands and South West 
			 Suffolk County Music Service East and South East 
			 Sunderland City Council North 
		
	
	
		
			 Surrey Arts (Surrey County Council) East and South East 
			 Sutton Music Service London 
			 Swindon Music Service Midlands and South West 
			 Tees Valley Music Service North 
			 Telford and Wrekin Music Midlands and South West 
			 Thurrock Music Services East and South East 
			 Torbay Music Service Midlands and South West 
			 Tower Hamlets Arts and Music Education Service (THAMES) London 
			 Uppingham Community College Midlands and South West 
			 Wakefield Music Services North 
			 Wandsworth Schools' Music Service London 
			 Warks Arts and Cultural Education Midlands and South West 
			 Warrington Borough Council North 
			 West Sussex County Council East and South East 
			 Wiltshire Music Service Midlands and South West 
			 Wirral Local Authority North 
			 Wolverhampton Music Service Midlands and South West 
			 Worcestershire County Council Midlands and South West

Social Networking: Advertising

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport if she will ask the Advertising Standards Authority to investigate the use of advergames targeted at young people in relation to the marketing of high fat, sugar or salt foods to children.

Edward Vaizey: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington (Ms Abbott) on 13 November 2012, Official Report, column 117W.

HEALTH

Autism

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to review the level of services received by people with autism and families caring for people with autism.

Norman Lamb: The review of the 2010 adult autism strategy “Fulfilling and Rewarding Lives”, which will take place from April to October next year, is an opportunity for Government to take stock and consider where further action is required to realise the vision of improving the lives of people with autism. As part of the review, we will listen to the voices of those best qualified to give us their perspective on the services they receive. In a memorandum to the Committee of Public Accounts of 17 July 2012, the National Audit Office stated that considerable progress had already been made in the two years since the strategy was published.

Carbon Monoxide: Poisoning

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken to make the public aware of the symptoms associated with carbon monoxide poisoning; and whether he plans to take further steps to raise public awareness.

Anna Soubry: The Department seeks to raise the awareness of the symptoms associated with carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning by raising medical professional and general awareness of CO. As part of that process the then interim Chief Medical Officer and Chief Nursing Officer published updated guidance on the diagnosis of CO poisoning on 11 November 2010. This is available at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Lettersandcirculars/Professionalletters/Chiefmedicalofficerletters/DH_121502
	Furthermore an estimate of 4,000 patients per year attending accident and emergency departments and diagnosed with CO poisoning was published in November 2011 to highlight the serious health impact of CO poisoning as well as the symptoms and effects of CO poisoning. This is available at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/health/2011/11/co-poisoning/
	NHS Choices also provides comprehensive information on CO poisoning and its symptoms and a NHS leaflet is also available. These are available at:
	www.nhs.uk/conditions/Carbon-monoxide-poisoning/Pages/Introduction.aspx
	and;
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_090124
	The Department has also included CO awareness messages in this year's Cold Weather Plan for England, where CO safety is given as a top tip for staying healthy in winter and in the Keep Warm Keep Well leaflet. These are available at:
	http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/10/cwp-2012/
	and;
	www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/11/keep-warm/
	As part of its ongoing activities to raise awareness of CO poisoning and its symptoms the Health Protection Agency will be publishing a press release at the start of CO Awareness Week to raise awareness of CO through the national media. The Department is also preparing information to be published on the Get Ready for Winter web page. This site encourages individuals, families and communities to think about what winter preparations they can make to help them stay warm, healthy and safe.

Health Services

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  by what date he expects joint strategic needs assessments of health and wellbeing strategies for local authorities to be complete;
	(2)  which bodies will be responsible for the publication of joint strategic needs assessments of health and wellbeing strategies for local authorities outside London.

Norman Lamb: Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNAs) and Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategies (JHWSs) are continuous local strategic planning processes, and from 1 April 2013 will be an integral part of clinical commissioning groups and local authority commissioning cycles. Local authorities and clinical commissioning groups have a duty to undertake JSNAs and JHWSs, although they must be discharged by the health and wellbeing board established in every upper-tier local authority.
	Under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, the commissioning intentions of local authorities, clinical commissioning groups, and the NHS Commissioning Board must be informed by relevant JSNAs and JHWSs. However, there is no nationally set deadline or timetable for JSNAs and JHWSs—health and wellbeing boards will need to decide for themselves when to update or undertake fresh JSNAs and JHWSs in line with local commissioning cycles and to ensure that they are able to inform local commissioning plans over time.
	Under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, JSNAs and JHWSs must be published by the responsible local authority.

Homeopathy

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many London primary care trusts and commissioning bodies have contracts with the Royal Homeopathic Hospital; and what advice his Department gives on homeopathic treatments.

Anna Soubry: The Royal Homeopathic Hospital (now known as the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine) is part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH). NHS London has advised that three primary care trust clusters in London currently have contracts with UCLH.
	The Department does not maintain a position on any particular complementary or alternative medicine treatments including homeopathy. It is the responsibility of local national health service organisations to make decisions on the commissioning and funding of any healthcare treatments for NHS patients, such as homeopathy, taking account of issues to do with safety, clinical and cost-effectiveness and the availability of suitably qualified/regulated practitioners.

Mental Health Services

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of expenditure by his Department on the NHS was spent on mental health services in each of the last 10 years.

Norman Lamb: Comparable figures for the period requested are not available. However, the following table shows expenditure on mental health as a proportion of overall health service expenditure from 2003-04 to 2010-11. This data includes estimates of expenditure by the Department of Health and NHS (including primary care trusts, strategic health authorities and special health authorities).
	
		
			  Mental health expenditure (£ billion) Total expenditure (£ billion) Mental health expenditure as percentage of total expenditure (percentage) 
			 2003-04 7.39 67.60 10.9 
			 2004-05 7.91 71.92 11.0 
			 2005-06 8.54 80.19 10.6 
			 2006-07 9.13 84.19 10.8 
			 2007-08 10.28 93.18 11.0 
			 2008-09 10.48 96.81 10.8 
			 2009-10 11.26 103.97 10.8 
			 2010-11 11.91 107.00 11.1

Mental Health Services

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of people with mental illnesses who have received treatment for their condition in each of the last 10 years.

Norman Lamb: The exact information is not held centrally. However, the following table shows the available information on the number of people using secondary mental health services.
	
		
			 Number of people using adult and elderly NHS secondary mental health services by highest level of care, 2003-04 to 2010-11 
			  2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 
			 Total number of people 1,079,016 1,132,434 1,149,472 1,151,260 1,190,542 1,222,365 1,270,731 1,285,594 
			 Admitted(1) 113,772 114,435 111,088 106,561 105,719 102,571 107,765 104,645 
			 Non-admitted(2) 814,252 916,534 930,374 936,629 982,704 1,026,366 1,078,091 1,094,138 
			 No care(3) 150,992 101,465 108,010 108,070 102,119 93,428 84,875 86,811 
			 (1) Identifies records that included in-patient care. (2) Identifies records that included a recorded contact, attendance or review with out-patient or community services. (3) Identifies records that show no evidence of services in contact with the person during the reporting period. Note: In the above table, individuals are counted only once during a single year. Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre Mental Health Minimum Dataset 2003-04 to 2010-11 annual returns

Musculoskeletal Disorders

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the needs of people with musculoskeletal conditions in relation to personal health budgets.

Norman Lamb: The personal health budgets pilot programme ran from 2009 to 2012 and the results of the final evaluation of the pilot will be published later this year. Five interim evaluation reports have been published, which can be found at:
	www.phbe.org.uk
	The programme did not specifically include a cohort of people with musculoskeletal conditions, but the interim evaluation reports make clear that many people involved in the pilots had additional health conditions such as arthritis, osteoporosis, and back and joint problems.
	Departmental officials have worked with organisations concerned with musculoskeletal conditions, including Arthritis Research UK, who produced a report in July 2012 entitled 'Personal health budgets: perspectives from people with arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions'.
	The Mandate from the Government to the NHS Commissioning Board, published on 13 November, sets a clear objective that patients who could benefit—which could include people with musculoskeletal conditions—should have the option to hold their own personal health budget, subject to the evaluation of the pilot programme.

Musculoskeletal Disorders

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the provision of aids and adaptations for people with musculoskeletal conditions.

Norman Lamb: The Department has not assessed the provision of aids and adaptations for people with musculoskeletal conditions. However, national health service aids and adaptations are funded free of charge for NHS patients who need them.

NHS: Private Finance Initiative

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list all private finance schemes approved by the NHS in London in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011 and (d) 2012 to date, by the value and repayment term of each.

Anna Soubry: Information on the capital value and estimated annual revenue payments for the lifetime of each signed national health service private finance initiative (PFI) contract can be found on HM Treasury's website at:
	www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/pfi_current_projects_list_march_2012.xls
	These are the latest estimates collected from each Department for end of March 2012; the health sector schemes are clearly marked “Department of Health” and then “DH-Acute (i.e. Hospitals)”. Schemes approved by NHS bodies in London are identified by ‘London’ in Column G; the year the schemes were approved is identified by ‘Date of Financial Close, in Column K (no new PFI scheme has been signed, since February 2010); the initial capital cost of each scheme is shown in Column R; and the estimated annual revenue payment in the columns headed ‘Unitary Charge Payment’.
	The revenue payment figures include not just the financing costs for initial construction but also the costs of all the other services such as building maintenance and support services (cleaning, catering, portering etc) provided over the lifetime of the contract. The payments are subject to meeting agreed performance and quality standards and include an annual uprate assumption for inflation of 2.5%.

NHS: Staff

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what information and assurance he has received from the leadership of (a) the NHS Commissioning Board, (b) Health Education England, (c) Public Health England, (d) the NHS Trust Development Agency, (e) Monitor and (f) the Care Quality Commission that the workforce, including senior management, will be diverse and proportionately representative of the communities that they serve;
	(2)  what steps he has taken to ensure that the current reorganisation of the NHS does not result in a disproportionately negative outcome for existing NHS staff in the groups protected by the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty;
	(3)  what steps he has taken to ensure that after the current reorganisation of the NHS, the composition of both management and frontline staff in the NHS reflects the communities that they serve;
	(4)  what directions he has given to the chief executives and boards of (a) the NHS Commissioning Board, (b) Health Education England, (c) Public Health England, (d) the NHS Trust Development Agency, (e)  Monitor and (f) Care and Quality Commission on (i) diversity in general, (ii) groups protected by the Equality Act 2010 and (iii) the Public Sector Equality Duty;
	(5)  what steps he has taken to monitor the diversity of the organisations which will assume responsibility for the oversight of the NHS workforce development and national and local commissioning decisions from April 2013 for the purpose of ensuring that the NHS reflects the communities that it serves.

Anna Soubry: The HR Transition Framework, published in July 2011 sets a duty on employers to pay due regard to relevant employment law, equality legislation, and the public sector equality duty to ensure that decisions made during the transition that affect staff are fair/transparent, accountable, evidence based and consider the needs and rights of the workforce. In addition, the proposed changes offer a real opportunity for employers to put the advancement of equality and fairness at the heart of decision-making, demonstrating their commitment to diversity and ensuring the skills and competencies reflect the organisation's future needs. To further support the national health service and new organisations during the transition period, the Department provided bespoke Equality Protocol guidance to complement existing Equality legislation. A copy of this has been placed in the Library.
	Under the public sector Equality Duty, public authorities are required to publish information to demonstrate their compliance with the public sector Equality Duty at least annually. This information must include, in particular, information relating to people who share a protected characteristic who are its employees (public authorities with fewer than 150 employees are exempt); and people affected by its policies and practices. Equality objectives must be published every four years, and be specific and measurable.
	The Department and the former Equality and Diversity Council have actively raised awareness of and provided information about the Equality Act 2010. This includes the publication of the Equality Delivery System (EDS) in 2011, a tool kit developed by the NHS to support NHS organisations to meet the public sector Equality Duty of the Equality Act.
	The quality of care is closely related to how well organisations engage, manage and support their own staff. The NHS Constitution includes important pledges to staff who provide NHS care, and the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB) is required to promote the NHS Constitution in carrying out its functions. The NHS CB also has a statutory duty to promote education and training, to support an effective system for its planning and delivery. The NHS CB should support Health Education England in ensuring that the health workforce has the right values, skills and training to enable excellent care.
	As part of the authorisation process for Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), CCGs must declare that they will be compliant with the public sector equality duty and can demonstrate the use of the Equality Delivery System or equivalent to help attain compliance and ensure good equality performance. The NHS CB has published supporting information for CCGs about this.
	The NHS Operating Framework 2012-13 also made clear, that all NHS organisations must comply with the Equality Act 2010 and the public sector Equality Duty. NHS Employers has also made guidance on the Act, including information on employment issues, available to NHS bodies.
	David Behan, the then Director General of Social Care, Local Government and Care Partnerships at the Department of Health, wrote to Senior Responsible Officers for the Transition Programme on 23 May 2012 outlining the need to ensure Equality and Diversity was embedded within their respective programmes. He also offered guidance, support and training from the Department's Equality and Inclusion team to assist in the compliance of their respective programme with Equality legislation.
	The Department has also issued information to support NHS bodies to implement the ban on age discrimination in health and care services, which came into force in October 2012.

Palliative Care

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent steps he has taken to promote hospices and palliative care.

Norman Lamb: The Government confirmed its commitment to improving quality and choice in palliative and end of life care in the White Paper ‘Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS’.
	The Department's ‘End of Life Care Strategy’ provides a blueprint for improving these services for adults. The Strategy's ‘Fourth Annual Report’, published in October 2012, sets out the latest progress in implementing the strategy. The report is available on the Department's website at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/10/end-of-life-care-fourth/
	We recognise the important role that hospices play in delivering quality end of life care services. Following a commitment in the coalition agreement, we are working to develop a new per-patient funding system for palliative care, which will apply to all providers, including hospices. Working through pilots, we are collecting a range of data to help us develop the new funding system, which we aim to have in place by 2015.
	In addition, we are making £60 million capital funding available to improve the environment in which adult and children's hospices provide care. Successful applicants for this fund will be notified in March 2013 and the scheme will complete in March 2014.
	Specifically for children's services, the Department announced on 7 November the awards from the £721,000 funding made available to new children's hospices. This is in addition to the annual £10 million for established children's hospices. Information is available at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/11/hospice-grant/

Prostate Cancer

Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the amount of Government funding specifically for prostate cancer has increased in real terms in the last five years.

Anna Soubry: The vast majority of funding for prostate cancer is allocated to primary care trusts (PCTs) as part of their annual allocation. It is not ring-fenced as it is for individual PCTs to assess their populations' health needs and to allocate their resources to meet those needs.
	The only funding specifically set aside for prostate cancer is for the Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme (PCRMP). Since 2002, the PCRMP has been in place to ensure that men over 50 without symptoms of prostate cancer can have a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test free on the national health service after careful consideration of the advantages and disadvantages of PSA testing and after a discussion with a general practitioner.
	NHS Cancer Screening Programmes (NHS CSP) is responsible for the management of the PCRMP and funding provided to NHS CSP for the PCRMP in each of the last five years was £232,000. It is for NHS CSP to determine the final amount needed to deliver the PCRMP.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Africa

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the contribution of the International Labour Organization's CoopAfrica programme in developing and updating co-operative policies and legislation in eastern and southern Africa; and if she will make a statement.

Lynne Featherstone: Following the Bilateral Aid Review in 2010, the Department for International Development (DFID) decided not to support the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) CoopAfrica programme into a second phase. Since then, the Secretary of State for International Development has not made any further assessment of the contribution of the International Labour Organisation's CoopAfrica programme in developing and updating co-operative policies and legislation in eastern and southern Africa.
	While DFID no longer supports the CoopAfrica programme, DFID is supporting producers and others working in co-operatives through organisations such as the Fairtrade Foundation.

Africa

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the effects of the withdrawal of funding for Phase 2 of the CoopAfrica Programme; and if she will make a statement.

Lynne Featherstone: Following the Department for International Development's (DFID) decision not to support a second phase of the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) CoopAfrica programme, the Secretary of State for International Development has not made any further assessment of the programme.
	Following the Multilateral Aid Review (MAR), DFID decided to cease voluntary contributions to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and does not plan to assess the ILO in the forthcoming MAR update.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 22 October 2012, Official Report, column 724W, on Bangladesh, how the project increased accountability between the government and poor people.

Alan Duncan: The project contributed to the enactment and implementation of the Right to Information Act which allows the public to examine the extent to which officials' actions match their responsibilities and so hold them to account.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 22 October 2012, Official Report, column 724W, on Bangladesh, what technical assistance was provided with the drafting of the bill.

Alan Duncan: Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees freedom of thought, conscience, and speech and freedom of the press. To ensure the new Right to Information Act reflected international standards, the civil society organisation, Article 19, undertook a legal analysis of the draft and provided comprehensive suggestions to the Law Commission and the relevant stakeholders. The majority of the recommendations from the legal analysis were adopted.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 22 October 2012, Official Report, column 724W, on Bangladesh, which independent evaluation found that the project had made a far-reaching contribution.

Alan Duncan: All projects funded under DFID's Civil Society Challenge Fund (CSCF) project are required to commission an independent evaluation of the project. The evaluation is reviewed by the CSCF fund manager as part of DFID's assurance and learning process.
	The independent evaluation for project titled, ‘Access to Information for Greater Participation and Government Accountability’, was done by a team of three independent evaluators in February 2010.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 22 October 2012, Official Report, columns 720-21W, on Bangladesh, whether any officials were removed from their posts for corruption as a result of Transparency International Bangladesh's project.

Alan Duncan: None. Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) does not claim to have had Bangladeshi political or government officials removed from their posts as a direct result of its work. It works for improvements in the systems to prevent, detect and prosecute cases of corruption.
	One of TIB's priorities between 2003 and 2008 was the establishment of an Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). TIB drafted the Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Act of 2004, which led to the set-up of the ACC. Since 2004, the ACC has lodged corruption cases against approximately 1,500 high-level politicians, officials and business persons, of whom 237 have been convicted. This is an indirect result of DFID's support to TIB between 2003 and 2008.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 22 October 2012, Official Report, columns 720-1W, on Bangladesh, what figures her Department holds on the improvement in outcome produced by the Committees of Concerned Citizens that Transparency International Bangladesh established.

Alan Duncan: From 2003 to 2007, Committees of Concerned Citizens (CCCs) worked to improve systems to prevent corruption in 36 local government bodies (Districts or Municipalities), 36 hospitals and 36 schools.
	As a result, more people were able to obtain cards entitling them to state benefits; advice from CCCs helped local government bodies to close tax loopholes and improve local revenue collection, to invest in public services, hospital patients saved money on "unofficial fees" and were able to see doctors and obtain medicines from the hospital more regularly, and student attendance at the targeted schools improved.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of Harewelle International's distribution of her Department's aid in Bangladesh on the Economic Empowerment of the Poorest project.

Alan Duncan: DFID undertakes mandatory independent annual reviews of the programme and the managing agent's performance. The geographical distribution was in keeping with the programme design. The programme has also fully complied with all financial management requirements.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the Extreme Poverty Action Research Group in the Economic Empowerment of the Poorest Project programme in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The 2011 annual review of the Extreme Poverty Action Research Group in the Economic Empowerment of the Poorest Project programme concluded that the Extreme Poverty Research Group produced important research findings on both the characteristics and the dynamics of extreme poverty. It also noted that the Extreme Poverty Research Group provides robust evidence to support advocacy work on extreme poverty issues in Bangladesh. To date 10 policy papers have been produced and published.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the Stimulating Household Improvements Resulting in Economic Empowerment project.

Alan Duncan: DFID has assessed the Stimulating Household Improvements Resulting in Economic Empowerment programme through three annual reviews since 2009. The 2011 review concluded that the programme was helping 347,900 people which exceeded the milestone of 254,800 for that period. This help included, for example, increasing the extreme poor's assets through providing them with livestock and improving their skills to help increase their income and for better and more secure livelihoods.

Burma

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether her Department has considered directing bilateral assistance to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: DFID does not provide bilateral funding directly to assist the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. DFID does provide core contributions to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which manages the official camps, and to other organisations that provide support including the European Commission. We have raised the plight of the Rohingyas and their status with the Government of Bangladesh, both bilaterally and in concert with European Union partners.
	DFID has allocated £2 million of bilateral funds for humanitarian relief for victims of violence in Rakhine state in Burma. This includes the supply of emergency water, sanitation and health care to more than 58,000 people affected by the outbreak of violence in Rakhine State.

Consultants

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much her Department has spent on consultants who were based in the UK since May 2010.

Alan Duncan: DFID is not required to hold information on where consultants are based for the purposes of reporting Admin Consultancy to the Cabinet Office.
	DFID's total spending on Admin Consultancy for financial year 2011-12 was £675,291, down from £19.1 million in 2009-10. This reduction in spending was due to the Department's implementation of central Government controls on spending from May 2010 onwards.

Developing Countries: Land

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what preparations her Department is making to promote measures for greater governance and transparency in large-scale land acquisitions in developing countries during the UK's G8 presidency.

Justine Greening: The coalition Government recognises the need for good governance and transparency in investments involving large-scale land acquisitions and we continue to discuss the issue with non-governmental organisations for investments to protect the legitimate rights of local people and not to undermine local food security.
	When done well, commercial investments in agriculture have the potential to be transformational. But it is vital that the rights and interests of the people living on the land are taken into account, which increased transparency can support.
	The Prime Minister will announce his priorities for the UK's G8 presidency shortly. But he made clear in an article on 1 November that the golden thread themes of transparency and accountability will be at the heart of the UK's G8 presidency.

Developing Countries: Water

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which projects are delivering the Government's commitment to ensure access to water and sanitation to more than 60 million people, made at the Sanitation and Water for All High Level Meeting in Washington on 20 April 2012.

Lynne Featherstone: Our current or planned programmes that will contribute to meeting this target include:
	1. Programmes managed by our offices in countries in Africa and Asia. We currently have water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programmes in 15 countries and these are the principal routes through which we will deliver our results. We are currently assessing the potential to expand our existing programmes and have already identified additional results to be achieved in Ethiopia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. We are also exploring the potential to do more in a number of other countries.
	2. Existing partnerships with a range of organisations such as the Water and Sanitation Program, Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor and WaterAid.

English Language

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the English Language Teaching Improvement Project; and whether that assessment was used to inform the English in Action project.

Alan Duncan: The end of project review completed in April 2002 of the English Language Teaching Improvement Project found the scale of the project too modest in that it was limited to secondary school teachers.
	Based on these findings the coverage of the English in Action Project was expanded to improve the language skills of 25 million people (2008-17) thus increasing employment opportunities. The beneficiaries include primary and secondary school teachers.

English Language

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much and what proportion of the English in Action project's funding is being spent on (a) teacher training, (b) adult learning, (c) English television and (d) English radio.

Alan Duncan: English in Action (2008-17) allocates approximately £19.5 million (39% of total cost) on teacher training, and approximately £20 million (40% of total cost) for adult learning which includes English lessons through television, mobile phones, and online courses. English in Action does not fund radio programmes.

Food Supply

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what information her Department holds on the proportion of the money pledged by each G8 government under the L'Aquila Food Security Initiative that will be disbursed by the (a) end of 2012 and (b) 2013 G8 Summit.

Lynne Featherstone: The G8 Camp David Accountability Report published in May 2012:
	http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/189889.pdf
	provides the latest official information on G8 Government disbursements against the money pledged under the L'Aquila Food Security Initiative. Updated information on G8 member disbursements, including until the end of 2012 where available, will be presented in the 2013 G8 Accountability Report.

Food Supply

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  when the UK will meet its financial commitments under the L'Aquila Food Security Initiative;
	(2)  what proportion of the UK's financial commitments under the L'Aquila Food Security Initiative (a) has already been disbursed, (b) will be disbursed by the end of 2012 and (c) will be disbursed by the 2013 G8 Summit.

Lynne Featherstone: The UK has met its financial commitments under the L’Aquila Food Security Initiative in full, disbursing over £1.1 billion between 2009 and 2012. The Department for International Development has supported food security and agriculture programmes in over 20 countries. For example, programmes in Ethiopia, Sudan, Malawi, Uganda and Rwanda are helping smallholder farmers access seeds and fertilisers, supporting the installation of efficient irrigation systems, and developing conservation agriculture to save water and reduce carbon emissions.

International Year of Co-operatives

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps (a) her Department and (b) the bodies for which she is responsible have taken to mark UN International Year of the Co-operatives 2012; and if she will make a statement.

Lynne Featherstone: DFID continues to engage with co-operative organisations in various ways—as financial intermediaries, in agriculture and as members of the private sector. We do not have a separate strategy for working with co-operative organisations; Government engagement on the International Year of the Co-operative was co-ordinated by the Mutuals Taskforce in collaboration with Cabinet Office.
	DFID is committed to working across the spectrum of relevant organisations, and works hard to engage in both the public and private sectors. Our main focus of engagement with UN agencies is to increase the performance and results that they deliver as set out in our Multilateral Aid Review.

Kashmir

Simon Danczuk: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid to (a) India and (b) Pakistan was spent in Kashmir in the latest period for which figures are available.

Alan Duncan: UK aid to India and Pakistan supports national programmes that work in, and benefit Kashmir.
	I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Luton South (Gavin Shuker) on 8 November 2012, Official Report, column 669W.

Somaliland

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to promote good governance in Somaliland.

Justine Greening: The Department for International Development is supporting, in conjunction with six other donors, the Somaliland local council elections which will take place at the end of this month. Support has been provided for election operating costs, civic and voter awareness campaigns and training for youth and women candidates, as well as to help build the capacity of the Election Commission which will run the election.
	Parallel support has been provided to civil society groups which have helped draft a party code of conduct, are training party staff and which will undertake election monitoring. DFID has engaged with the President and Minister of Interior to encourage them to do everything possible to ensure that elections are free, fair and do not result in violence. The democratisation process in Somaliland has seen steady progress, including five sets of credible elections, and the forthcoming elections are expected to continue this trend.
	The Department for International Development is also developing a programme to build the capacity of the police, including the development of community policing approaches and the establishment of oversight mechanisms. These will improve community-police relationships and enhance policing standards and the accountability of the police force.

St Helena

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she is taking to promote environmental awareness in St Helena.

Alan Duncan: The White Paper on the OTs published in June this year emphasises the Government's commitment to environmental issues. We recently established the Overseas Territories Environment and Climate Fund. This will bring together all existing UK Government funding for environmental management in the OTs and will make the fight against climate change in the Territories more effective.
	DFID is also supporting the Government of St Helena's efforts to improve environment policy on the island. An Environmental Management Directorate was established in St Helena last year to which DFID is providing financial and technical support. We are also ensuring that the airport construction adheres to best practice in terms of its environmental impact.

West Africa

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the regional effects of illegal fishing in West African waters on (a) economic development and (b) food security; and if she will make a statement.

Lynne Featherstone: West African governments suffer a significant loss of revenue due to illegal fishing. Alongside the impact of the losses to economic development, illegal fishing in west Africa threatens the livelihoods and thus food security of coastal communities. The Environmental Justice Foundation estimates that west African waters have the highest level of illegal fishing in the world as a proportion of the region's catch.
	The Department for International Development is supporting the Stop Illegal Fishing Network in its efforts to combat illegal fishing in west Africa. This is part of the International Partnership for African Fisheries Governance and Trade Programme. The programme has established and maintains an up-to-date list of fishing vessels that African governments can use to identify vessels that are fishing illegally.